The Idiots are Winning

(Image from here)
Champions League draw brings out the idiots. Shaun Custis in The Sun to be precise. He has this to say:

The great European party turned into little more than a damp squib here in Monaco.

And England's four representatives got as easy a ride as they are ever likely to get.

The star-studded good, rich and famous of football had gathered to celebrate the draw for the moneybags Champions League 2010. ...

Countless millions watched with bated breath as the balls were drawn out - anticipating mega-clash after mega-clash.

Would it be Cristiano Ronaldo back at Old Trafford or Jose Mourinho back at Chelsea?

Nope.

The draw was as dull as ditchwater.

We ended up with barely a whimper as the four English teams avoided the giants of the continent.

If you really hate football so much why bother writing about it? He was expecting hugely glamorous ties from a first round group stage which is designed, via seeding, to make sure the top teams avoid each other. Does this guy have any clue whatsoever? Yes. The draw was dull. Champions League draws are always overlong and dull. Has he really never watched one before? And complaining because the balls didn't drop into one of his "dream ties?" Wtf? Wouldn't he prefer these ties in the later stages when they might actually have some importance attached to them. Jesus wept. And we haven't even got to the predictable Man Utd bashing yet:

And but for an almost predictable whinge from the United camp, the quartet will rarely have a better excuse for cracking open the bubbly.

First off - by predictable does he mean correct? There's a lot of travelling there. What's he want? Us celebrating long European trips before important Premiership ties? And secondly he gives his remarks no context. The rest of the article has quotes from Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool but nothing from us. It's kind of like me just writing "Shaun Custis is an idiot," and hitting publish. Which I was tempted to do... There is another article by him (which I'm not linking to because it's crap) with a few (non-whingeing) quotes from Sir Alex, but the article in question has nothing, just a cheap, stupid, wrong and very predictable accusation.

Shaun Custis is an idiot.

Anyway, here's David Gill's "predictable whinge:"

"Pot four was the interesting one and I think most teams would have preferred not to get the German champions, but overall we have got to be happy," said United's chief executive David Gill, whose club also face CSKA Moscow and Besiktas. "We look forward to going back to Moscow, where we enjoyed such great scenes in 2008," he added, referring to the European Cup final win over Chelsea.

He's having a right go there isn't he...

And here's Sir Alex:

“These are difficult ties, especially the trips to Russia and Turkey.

“CSKA have developed strongly in the last few years and games in Turkey are ­always difficult.

“We also know the quality that we’re up against with Wolfsburg, with what they achieved in the Bundesliga last season.”

Which is nothing more than the football tradition of paying due respect to your opponents.

Shaun Custis is an idiot.

Here's what they could have said, courtesy of Henry Winter in The Telegraph:

Manchester United, who were handed the most awkward draw of the English four, have important domestic fixtures, including collisions with Liverpool and City, following long flights in Europe.

Although the English champions missed major opponents like Real Madrid and Inter Milan, Sir Alex Ferguson will not be too amused when casting his eye over the fixture schedule.

First up for United in Group B is Besiktas away on Sep 15, three days after a trip to Tottenham Hotspur and just before City pile into Old Trafford. Any tiredness in United legs or minds could be exploited by Mark Hughes' well-rested side.

United travel on Oct 21 to Moscow, a place etched in their hearts after lifting the 2008 Champions League there. This will be before the temperature plummets in Russia but also before the mercury rises at Anfield. Red squared for United. Ferguson's mood will hardly be improved to learn that Liverpool have a home tie (against Lyons) while United are out in Moscow.

I may have said it before, but it bears repeating - Shaun Custis is an idiot.

Speaking of idiots/predictable whingeing - Tevez whines on about us. Not worth quoting.

Elsewhere Bryan Robson has a few words on Sir Alex and Arsene Wenger ahead of Saturday's game:

“If you’re looking for a feud these days, you’ve still got Rafa and the gaffer.

“As for Fergie and Arsene Wenger, they’re pals now and they’ll have a glass of red wine together after ­Saturday’s game.

“There’s that mutual respect there because they both know how difficult the other’s job is.

“We’ll probably know round about January if the feud’s back on with Arsene because that’s when the ­pressure builds and you try to look for little cracks in your rivals.

“If it does, it’d probably suggest the gaffer sees Arsenal as a threat again and maybe Arsene should be pleased by that – but at the moment there’s a healthy respect there.”

And a strange one in The Guardian to finish:

The Football Association has denied it caved into pressure from Manchester United in removing a Liverpool Academy physiotherapist from duty with the England squad.

It is understood that Manchester United's chief executive David Gill, also a board member at the FA, objected to Dave Galley, who has more than 25 years' experience as a football physiotherapist, working with Fabio Capello's squad. It is understood that he objected on the grounds that using non-independent staff contravenes FA policy, although concerns a Premier League rival would have access to potentially sensitive medical information could have played a part.