Stretford Ender

Egotistical is right. It's all about them. They are treated like celebrities even going so far as to have them act as historians. Didn't they have a modern referee watch the 1970 cup final replay to give us his pearls of wisdom? Football is run as one gigantic marketing operation; especially the PM. It's not a game any more, it's a lifestyle.

I honestly don't know who he supports. I know he's a pretty mediocre referee like most of them. Chelsea fans were saying something similar after he was in charge of one of our games back in February.

He's from Wythenshawe which is a very red part of town, He's got a bit of a history with Chelsea too. Like many PL referees, he wants to be the star of the show instead of being, as a good ref should be, virtually invisible. Too many games are being ruined for the supporters by shoddy refereeing and, for the most part, they get away with it. It's just another reason to dislike modern football.

It is far better than the awful 'Pearl Harbor' which asks the viewer to suspend disbelief (USAAC pilots flying Spitfires in the Battle of Britain).

As a last line of defence, you'd want Vidic, but for breaking up attacks outside the box and playing the ball out, Rio excelled.

Good film but might have been even better if Akira Kurosawa hadn't taken himself off the project. He was supposed to direct the Japanese side of the film but he was replaced with Masuda and Fukasaku. It was felt that Kurosawa was out of his element and unused to being told what to do and how to do it by the producers.

Against Liverpool too. Looks like Chris Lawler on the line and Emlyn Hughes. Tommy Lawrence in goal. They used to call him the 'flying pig.' Is that Peter Osgood in the background?

The Arsenal player in the top photo is David Herd so it must have been taken circa 1960 because we signed him in 1961, and what a good buy he was.

He was, but we didn't sign him until the 2005-06 season.

It was fairly well known that JT was a United supporter when he was young. Later on, there was speculation that we were trying to sign him to replace Jaap Stam. I think JT has said since that it was his dad who was the United fan but I wonder if that isn't him being politic. Would have made a great pairing with Rio in the middle of our defence.

Terry Neill admitted later that McDonald wasn't fit for the final. He was crocked for the 79 final too. When he was at Newcastle, he was gobbing off before the final with Liverpool about how many goals he was going to score. Emlyn Hughes later said McDonald was all the motivation Liverpool needed - if any was needed at all. Jim Holton clobbered him during a league match at Old Trafford in the 1973-74 season. McDonald didn't know where he was afterwards and, in his Sun column, said later he never wanted to meet Holton again. Anyway, I've got Chelsea to win 3-1 with a HT score of 1-1.

Back in 1983, I had a pal who worked at Stamford Bridge in the catering department. It was a part-time gig but the money was good. I went down there to see him every now and then and the manager of the place - I think his name was Brian - was a good bloke and there was a very beautiful well-spoken lady who was in charge of something. I can see her face but can't remember her name. Anyway, one day I was there and Ray Wilkins and Bryan Robson were at the bar having a drink with a couple of the Chelsea players. I asked Robbo for a ticket for the FA Cup semi against Arsenal but he didn't have any and neither did Ray. Peter Rhoades-Brown knew someone and I had my ticket within the hour for face and in the United end too. They were happy just to talk football with anyone who was around. Part of my mate's job was to keep the private boxes stocked with clean china, booze, and what have you. They were pretty smart for the 80s. In one box was a paper bag stuffed with money - tenners, twenties, there must have been a couple of grand in there, but he said it was pretty normal. Discarded ladies undergarments were also common.

I believe I've seen it in a book but I couldn't tell you which one. Imagine kids running on to the pitch during the kick-in and getting an autograph too. These days, they'd be arrested.

The appointment of Cech was a very clever move, and it will pay dividends in the long run. Football men should always be the ones making decisions on football-related matters not merchant bankers like we have. Despite your past, I think Roman is less twitchy these days when it comes to running the club. You're in good shape. Your academy has produced some good players and you've got a very good number two in Jody Morris. All in all, that's not bad.

As an oppo fan, that has to be a non-starter. Lampard has the makings of a top manager. Chelsea have been up there all season and he has made the best use of his players to keep them there. Chelsea are still in the CL, you've done some good business in the market already and you're in the FA Cup final. Oh, and you've qualified for next season's CL too. Not a bad first season for a new manager.

They like to raise their game against us. It's their (and our) cup final, sad to say.

We look knackered. Fernandes is off-form, Pogba too and our defence is a shambles. Our redeeming quality is our forward line but we offer nothing on the wings. Press United like you did last week, and West Ham did (and Saints), and anything can happen. I hope we beat Leicester but I have a bad feeling about it. I can't see Chelsea dropping points with so much at stake so there you have it. As for Maguire scoring, pffft. In his own net perhaps.

You'll beat Wolves and we'll lose at Leicester. I can see it in the tea leaves. Tell you what, the way things are going, they'll have carted me off to the knacker's yard long before we get a sniff at the league title again. Vardy will torment our defence and unless McTominay and Fred start as a double pivot, it does not bode well.

Good for him. Klopp is a gobsh*te and his number two isn't much better. The press are so far up his backside that when he wakes up, there's a hack waiting to clean his teeth from the inside.

Only one team in that match. Chelsea controlled from start to finish, except for one of two periods when we started to look interested. OK, so you had an extra 48 hours of rest and maybe that did play a part, but our tactics were terrible and the team selection was too. Maguire was awful, De Gea was awful, and Bailly is always a disaster waiting to happen. He must train with Phil Jones. What really got up my nose though was the cavalier attitude towards a cup semi-final. It is clear that Ole wants top four and that is the priority. We've turned into Arsenal, grubbing round for crumbs from the top table. We may get a top four spot but we'll only be there to make up the numbers and to fill the pockets of the Glazers. Lampard got his tactics right from the very start. We were pinned back in our own half and only Fernandes looking capable of igniting something, but he seems to have gone off the boil. Understandable, but where were our wide players? Good luck in the final. Arsenal will give you more of a fight than we did but it should be a good game.

That'll be like two ballet dancers hitting each other with handbags.

My sentiments exactly. I wish they'd never abolished the ECWC. It devalued the FA Cup which is now pretty much a sideshow unless you're of a certain age. Younger members of my family say it's pointless and that getting into the CL is all that matters. It's a real head-shaker is that.

Be cheaper too.

Not a bad player that lad. Might be worth a punt.

I used to post on there a while ago but it got too much with all the pro-Glazer stuff. Got into a right ding-dong with a mod about that and decided enough was enough. This is a good site with good people and I know I'm here under sufferance. As for wanting Ole out, to be honest, I never wanted him appointed full-time but a fluke result in Paris was all it needed. I loved him as a player and his status is carved in stone but I'm just not convinced by his management style. Maybe he'll turn it around and maybe not. If he's happy just to scrap for 4th place, he's no business being there. Not too worried about the barbs heading my way this weekend. Wouldn't have it any other way but it all seems a bit plastic to me. I can't get excited about a semi with no fans. I was at Villa Park in 1996 when there was a proper atmosphere so a fan-free Wembley is a bit ho-hum. Last thing. A mate of mine thinks we should play a weakened team for the semi and our strongest for Palace just to try and get 4th. That's the type of thing that gets up my nose.