Narcotic Influence

Pretty quiet again today.

Avram Grant has some silly words to say, quoted pretty much everywhere, but this Daily Star report will do:

Revealing he had watched a DVD of United’s victory at Wigan, he commented: “The referee? He was, as expected, good for one team.

“I think in England there are some very good referees.

“But there are some, a few of them, you can influence, like you saw.”

Admitting he was glad the referee for Wednesday’s final in Moscow was not English, Grant appeared to suggest a conspiracy against Chelsea by officials, when he moaned: “What happened is what I expected.

“When we played United at Old Trafford the referee changed the result for sure. We know that.

“The red card for Mikel was not a red card, and on Sunday Scholes should have had a red card.
Then there was the penalty...

“I do not think the world is against Chelsea, or English football.

“But in this case there were some coincidences, for Manchester United.

Jesus. First point, I wonder if Grant is as pleased about the non-English referee after seeing the two penalties which the referee in the UEFA Cup final turned down, both bigger penalties than the one that Chelsea got us against us. Second point, this timely summary of the season in The Guardian shows that Mike Dean, who was the referee who sent off Mikel, has shown more red cards than any other referee. Not so much influenced as simply card happy.

The Times has some comments from Bobby Charlton:

“It would be perfect as it was Matt Busby who pioneered the idea of English clubs competing in Europe - and the Babes would have done so well in it but for the tragedy,” Charlton said. “That history is not lost on these players now. All of them who come here sometimes get a little puzzled by the effect that what happened in Munich has had on Manchester United.

“But when the club asked Nobby Stiles and I to talk about Munich and the effect it had on United to the players earlier in the year, they understood it and were fascinated by it.”

There's this:

Ronaldo has been named Barclays Player of the Season and winner of the Golden Boot award while boss Ferguson has been named Manager of the Season.

It is the second campaign in succession that Ronaldo, 23, has won the Player of the Season accolade.

And finally this:

"Ronaldo's been fantastic but in the semi-final Messi showed he's the top man," said Cole, who will face Ronaldo in next week's Champions League final.

Idiot.