How many former England internationals are there currently plying their trade in the third tier? Not many, I’d wager. And how many League One players can boast that they once appeared in a Champions League semi-final against Valencia (even if that appearance was curtailed by a red card)? Again, not many. But, as of 29th January this year, there is at least one: Alan Smith. Even still, us Newcastle fans would be very wary of hiring a tent from the MK Dons fan who claimed Smith was a “marquee loan signing”… Smudger started out with hometown club Leeds, whose fans…
All posts tagged Manchester United
Trading Places: Time to Reform the Football League’s Loan System?
To look closely at the associated regulations is to acknowledge the Football League’s existing loan system as nothing less than a free for all. ‘Temporary loan transfer’ is the umbrella heading which comprises the following three types of move permissible under the current system: • ‘Standard Loans’ (half or full season in length and arranged during the two transfer windows); • ‘Emergency Loans’ (28-93 days in length and arranged both within the two transfer windows and during fixed periods outside these dates); • ‘Youth Loans’ (identical to ‘Emergency Loans’ but applies to scholars or new professionals on a work experience-type…
EPPPIC FAIL?
For our first proper post following the big redesign, we are very pleased to welcome back John McGee. Bring Me the Head of Keith Mincher is John’s blog devoted to Carlisle United and he likes nothing better than to rail against anyone who disagrees with him on Twitter under the nom de plume of @epouvantail – he’s a little smug at the moment given the club’s continued robust play-off push. Here, John steps back a little in order to ponder the likely impact of a measure that got us all excited last autumn. You probably haven’t heard of Dean Henderson,…
Book Review: Glory Glory
Glory GloryBy Andy MittenPublished by Vision Sports Publishing, 2009£17.99 (Hardback)978-1905326693Following his review of Eamon Dunphy’s A Strange Kind of Glory last week, Russell George brings us his thoughts on another study of the Big Red Machine. Tangential to the usual scope of this site it may seem, but author Andy Mitten’s prominence in the world of fans as writers made it worthy of publicity in our eyes and who knows? – that debt is still pretty big – we could even be covering United as a lower league club at some point.This is the equivalent to eating a family bag…
Book Review: A Strange Kind of Glory
A Strange Kind of Glory By Eamon Dunphy Published by William Heinemann Ltd, 1991 From £2.49 (Amazon) 978-0434216161 For our latest book review, we mark the 20 year anniversary of Eamon Dunphy’s A Strange Kind of Glory, a definitive text for any scholar of Manchester United. Immediately following the period covered by the irascible Irishman, United were to slip into the second tier – here, Russell George provides his thoughts on the book and we hope to devote a coming installment in our Great Teams series to that mid seventies United side that briefly came within the core brief of this website. I…
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Lanterne Rouge: Garath McCleary on signing for Reading today:
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