Fergie flabbergasted

September 27, 2007

SIR Alex Ferguson admitted he was 'flabbergasted' by his side's stunning Carling Cup exit to Coventry.

Despite starting with none of the players that beat Chelsea on Sunday, the Manchester United boss still named six full internationals in his starting line-up, including £34million duo Nani and Anderson.

Yet the champions failed to impose themselves on Coventry - twice being stung by Malta international 'mosquito' Michael Mifsud in the 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford.

"I was absolutely flabbergasted by that performance," said Ferguson.

"I did not expect that at all. I am not interested in giving reasons or mitigating circumstances. It was just a very bad performance."

After spending the last 18 months hailing his emerging talent, Ferguson could scarcely understand what went wrong.

"We have trumpeted these young lads a lot, so what has happened tonight was a big shock for us all," he said.

"You want to give these boys a chance and we have not had the opportunity to do that.

"The number of Coventry fans who came made it a real cup-tie atmosphere and maybe that was an issue for some of our players because in the first half, we were second to every ball."

For Coventry manager Iain Dowie it was a different story.

"This will go down as a great night for Coventry," he said.

Belief

"I have been here as a player and a manager and never done that well, so hopefully this result will give us all some belief because I felt we deserved it."

Dowie was anxious not to spend too much time reflecting on the United players who were omitted by Ferguson, preferring instead to concentrate on the men Coventry beat.

Not even the introductions of Michael Carrick and Wes Brown could halt United's slump, with Mifsud wasting a golden opportunity to become the first visiting player to score a hat-trick at Old Trafford since Brazilian Ronaldo.

"The big credit for us was that we forced Manchester United to make their changes early," said Dowie.

"They had all three substitutes on within 55 minutes, which tells you something in itself.

"You are bound to benefit when you are playing a team without Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Nemanja Vidic but Sir Alex still picked a team he felt was good enough to win.

"Arsenal picked a team full of youngsters last night and they still won, so you can't argue Manchester United were anything other than a great side."

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mad pierre, midlands (27/09/2007 at 08:58)

remind me how much Nani and Anderson cost ?

life in a blender (27/09/2007 at 09:06)

Oh dear. Occasionally utd are worth having on the planet. Thank you red mates.

Jack Thorley, Trafford (27/09/2007 at 09:11)

I think Sir Aeix has hit the nail on the head here,Coventry had 11,000 fans vocally encouraging their team,usually there is a maximum of 3,500 away fans,this extra noise obviously disorientated the United team,after last seasons defeat at Southend its hadly a shock result.The bottom line is that these young players are not up to it,I am sure if Sir Alex were to give Arsene Wenger a call he would give some good advice on how to construct a good youth system.

Blackley Red, M9, MANCHESTER,ENGLAND (27/09/2007 at 09:12)

Never mind my fellow reds, it was only the sherbert
dib-dab cup after all.

I would rather take 3 points against the brummies on SAT than progress further in this mickey-mouse tournament.

CHRIS WHITTAKER (27/09/2007 at 09:16)

Was it Fergies Nani in midfield?

Numquam Moribimur, Arnhem (27/09/2007 at 09:20)

Remind me what Shevchenko cost. He's a proven international, and has had over a season now, without showing any class.

Then think of Nani and Anderson, young guys, barely legal driving age most places, and get some perspective. As I said after another article, remember that Evra and Vidic not exactly impressed in the beginning, and look at them now.

Bus Man (27/09/2007 at 09:20)

Just like every other season, this is not a priority. That said what a shame for the fans who turned uop in their thousands.

Andy Cooper (27/09/2007 at 09:42)

Seriously folks,are we really that bothered about this? The only people who should be hurting this morning are the youngsters who will no doubt have sore ears after a hairdryer session with His Nibs and the sponsors, who are doubtless gutted to have lost United from the competition at this stage. If we reflect on last season's FA Cup Final, by which point we were operating on battery power and memory alone, a few less games on the clock may be seen as a blessing by next April. It'll be the youngsters like Eagles, Martin and Pique who are likely to suffer the fallout from this - as the likes of Scholes, Neville and Beckham showed in this competition about 15 years ago, when you get the chance, you have to grab it

Free Red, Manchester (27/09/2007 at 09:49)

Mad pierre, midlands. You asked "remind me how much Nani and Anderson cost ?"

Anderson and Nani are being bought effectively on HP. United paid 'undisclosed' fees of £7m and £8m with the rest rolled up as additional debt. It's just a pity neither of them play CF unlike Rossi, a VERY promising CF, who was sold to off set the deposit on one of them. I said before the transfer window closed that the lack of CF cover would cost United and I have now been proven right twice. That's what you get when off setting the cost of transfers to pay off debts takes priority over the balance of the squad. No doubt some will whinge again for saying this, but if some can't handle the truth then that's their problem.

Red Eddie, Salford (27/09/2007 at 10:04)

Is it true that we spent more on Anderson and Nani than the majority of the premier teams have spent pre-season?

They look bobbins to me and there's gotta be fingers pointed at who spent the dough suerely?

Beni, Davyhulme (27/09/2007 at 10:06)

Oh, so some of you aren't bothered now about the 'dib dab cup' as one poster likes to point out. Funny how you were all bothered when you beat Wigan a few years ago. Obviously, you're 'young gems' aren't as good as ours!

gwats0n, sheffield (27/09/2007 at 10:08)

Ah, thought as much.... mikey mouse cup...hmmmm come up with a new excuse for once

mick the red fireman, middleton (27/09/2007 at 10:09)

Thank the lord for that defeat, Nani and Anderson are getting there but still have a bit to go, most embarrassing moment of the match when it was announced 74.050 supporters in the stadium United please tell the truth my guess 55.000 / 58.000 ? maybe

Dave-K, ex-Cheadle (27/09/2007 at 10:27)

The point at issue here is not that most of us seem to consider the Carling Cup as a waste of time, but the fact that United's second string, when given the chance to step up to the plate, funked it big-time against a team from a lower division that was stuffed by Ipswich last week. SAF didn't put out a team of 16-year-olds who had seen nothing more challenging than an Academy game. He put out a team that included a sprinkling of internationals and others who were considered good enough to be brought back to Old Trafford after successful loan spells. The best we can hope for is that this was a one-off and that they'll have learned a valuable lesson. My Arsenal-supporting work colleagues are looking pleased with themselves this morning: no problems for their second team.

george (27/09/2007 at 10:30)

It looked strong enough on paper but the result shows what we already knew.Some of these players are good enough and others aren't.

Andy Cooper (27/09/2007 at 10:40)

No-one would dispute that this is an embarassing defeat, but when we won the Carling Cup a couple of years back it was important to us as it buried the myth that we were in terminal decline with a manager who had lost the plot. This season, we feel - rightly or wrongly - that we have bigger fish to fry, in terms of the Champions League and the Premiership. In a way, it's a measure of how Ferguson and the squad have recovered that we can afford to shrug our shoulders about this defeat. Bad news for some of the young hopefuls, though.

Hans Peterson, Pip pip, Set to (27/09/2007 at 10:42)

YERR MICK the part time window cleaner, your right and to think that most have to go because of the season ticket policy. It wouldn't happen at any other club. Those glazers should GO now. Ps how much for my upstairs windows.

specialpatrolgroup, reddish (27/09/2007 at 10:45)

Dick turpin, now he used to ware a mask,but i don't think he ever ripped 74.000 fans off at the swamp.

Roy (27/09/2007 at 10:50)

Free Red, part of the issue with Rossi is that he wanted to go mainly to get first-team football. In fairness, if he'd stayed a bit longer he could have cemented his Man U future given Rooney's injury and Saha's prolonged absence.

BTW, how is Rossi doing in Spain? Maybe we could get him back in January?

And here's another question - who would you like to see be Man U's January's Henrik Larsson?

As for Anderson and Nani, write them off at your peril. Utd are second in the league (and that is with Nani, Anderson and Tevez all to kick-start their careers while Giggs, Ronaldo and Rooney have yet to excel), and have started the season with the tightest defence in years. That usually translates into increasing confidence up front, goals and ultimately championships.

As for the youngsters they have had a wake-up call. I wouldn't mind but they all played badly - imagine if one had excelled last night, the issue then would be his cockiness today as he'd be thinking he'd guanranteed 10 more years at Man U!

Never mind questioning Sir Alex, what are the youth coaches doing? And isnt CQ famed for his nurturing work with R Costa and L Figo?

Defeats can be good if you learn from them - remember Arsenal's 1-0 this time last year.

Duncan, London (27/09/2007 at 10:51)

I imagine a few season ticket holders are very relieved at not having to fork out for any more meaningless cup competitions and that is a sad indictment to the club's destructive cup ticket policy. I can't believe we played the team we did against a seasoned Championship team - we deserved it. We needed a few more experienced first team members to bolster the side otherwise we risk demoralising the youngsters we have.

monchenblue (27/09/2007 at 11:08)

could somebody explain the crowd being so high? was it that they wanted to watch the next generation oir was it to do with the stipulations made on season ticket holders. moderator could you please finally let one of my comments be published as i would love to see the answers as down the road we don't have to buy a cup ticket because we have a season ticket.

Red Max (27/09/2007 at 11:08)

Very poor performance.

I have MUTV and am constantly amazed by how many plaudits the reserve players get. They function relatively well at lower level but most of them choke on the big stage.

I am being completely honest and would say that our academy seems increasingly geared towards the production of players suited to reserve league, or lower division football.

I am not someone who slates our footballers ( like many others on this forum do ) but for Fergie's faith to be repayed in this way is really poor. I remember a similar outcome in Turkey when the B team was given its chance in the CL against Fenebache and the resulting performance was just as pathetic.

chris, oxford (27/09/2007 at 11:15)

Thats a good shout Duncan, it cant have done the youngsters confidence much good being beaten at home in such a manner.

francis lee's bellybutton (debt free), manchester (27/09/2007 at 11:18)

id be worried about the pathetic signings fergie has made-the 3 goons Hes signed wouldnt get in citys side-and i think ladies and gentlemen that is really something to worry about.Nani,Anderson & Hargreaves could just signal the end of Fergies tenancy at Owe Trafford.Never mind anyway theres always Europe(Stifled laughter).

The Navigator (27/09/2007 at 11:31)

To Duncan, London.

You are spot on. A number of ST holders have been put in the ridiculous position where they are almost pleased that we're out of a cup competition so that they're not debited for any more tickets they don't want/can't really afford. How sad is that?

Someone may have pointed this out already as I haven't read every comment but whilst our current youngsters clearly wasted an opportunity to impress, there are several precedents in this competition that suggest the result has no bearing on our future. York City is the most obvious because we were at home but there are others.

No sour grapes though, well done to Coventry.

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