Armed Response

Sir Alex's and the clubs response to the Hargreaves comments are the focus of the papers today, with a bit of added Stoke previewing in full effect.

Sir Alex's comments are here in The Guardian, this quote just about sums the whole thing up perfectly:

Ferguson was asked whether he was disappointed the player had gone public. "I'm not going into that because it's not worth it – absolutely not worth it," he said. "I think I'm right in what I've said. I've got a great medical staff. As far as I am concerned, my medical staff are one of the reasons why Manchester United have been so successful over the last few years.

The whole thing should probably die a death now anyway, according to Daniel Taylor, though he seems to be a bit kind on Hargreaves:

"There is no doubt about that. Do you think we would have been successful if we didn't have an operation that was not 100% and worked absolutely brilliantly?"

The player is said to be relaxed and philosophical about the coverage of his remarks, though he hopes they will not be perceived as an attack on his former club when that was not his intention.Hargreaves has been complimentary about United and Ferguson since leaving the club and, though his relationship with his former manager may have suffered irretrievable damage, he has no appetite for prolonging the argument.

That is the one point where he and United appear to be in agreement. Patrick Stewart, United's in-house lawyer, was not involved in the talks with Ferguson, Gill and McNally and there is no desire at Old Trafford to take the matter further.

The official Man United statement would seem to be the end of it then, it does have the air of finality in its refusal to get into details:

"United does not acknowledge any validity in the comments Owen is alleged to have made. United is disappointed with Owen's remarks.

"It is comfortable with the actions taken by its staff." 

Thus the Sun's contention that we're "considering legal action" seems wide of the mark.  Having said that, The Independent put our reticence down to ethical matters:

The club felt unable to answer Hargreaves's accusations point by point as that may have been construed as a breach of patient confidentiality.

The same article also goes into a bit of detail, reconstructing the failed comeback against Wolves, which I won't quote, it doesn't really shed much light.

The De Gea Effect is still there this week, with The Guardian running with the headline, "Manchester United have primed David de Gea for Stoke bombardment." Here's the relevant Sir Alex's quote:

In particular, he is mindful that De Gea has probably never played against a team with Stoke's aerial prowess and direct style. "I remember with Edwin [van der Sar] we used to discuss what his position would be in terms of their long throw-ins, where he would be most comfortable to deal with the situation, and I think we got it right. We'll do the same with David. All the work this week has been with his positioning and where he should be, similar to what Edwin did."

It's not just the headline, the sentence leading into the quote makes it sound like De Gea is receiving special treatment to prepare him when the quote makes explicit that he's preparing the same way VDS used to for Stoke.  Same article summarises the other bits of the press conference, including the bad news that Vidic's comeback is further away than expected:

"He has not done any training and just been having treatment," Ferguson said. "Calves can be troublesome that way. When Bryan Robson did his, it kept him out for three months. For Vida, it is just a slow process for him."

A couple of stories looking back to the Leeds game to finish.  Sir Alex compares staying at a Leeds hotel to the film Zulu here.  And The Mail has unearthed a youtube video that has a four year old singing the Munich song.  They are sickened.  It reminds me of the other day, when anti-death penalty campaigners were trying to stop the execution of Troy Davies and many made a comparison with the white supremacist who was also getting  executed:  neither should have been killed, the death penalty is just plain wrong.  Similarly, while the video is obviously to be deplored, so is The Mail and it's faux outrage tactics.