JOHNNY GILES DESCRIBED Manchester United striker Robin van Persie ‘a prat’ this evening as the RTÉ panel debated his club’s current crisis.
The former Manchester United, Leeds and Ireland midfielder had harsh words for players van Persie and Rio Ferdinand; calling on current Red Devils boss David Moyes to be given at least 18 more months to impose his stamp on his side.
Giles accused the Dutchman, who was united’s top scorer last season, of not trying his best despite earning £150,000 a week. “Moyes can’t make him play,” Giles declared. “He should be out there doing his best.” RTÉ’s senior football analyst read out quotes from van Persie about teammates playing in the space he wanted to play in before labelling him a prat.
While Giles wanted Moyes to be allowed more time to shape United, fellow pundit Richie Sadlier called on the league champions to cut the Scot loose. “Moyes has shown in the last few months that he is completely out of his depth,” said Sadlier.
The former Ireland striker says he can not imagine a scenario in which United, managed by Moyes, will recover from the current malaise that sees them well off the pace in the Premier League and in danger of Champions League elimination. “People are exaggerating how bad this United side are.”
Ronnie Whelan pitched into the debate by declaring that Ferdinand does not want to be at United and questioning why Moyes does not follow the lead of his predecessor Alex Ferguson and get rid of fractious elements in his squad.
Whelan commented, “People are saying United need five or six players but they need to get in eight, nine or 10.”
Ronnie Whelans speech about Rio Ferdinand was right on the money. Moyes needs to balls up and cut the poor players, and the ones who are undermining him, out of the team.
Ferdinand, Cleverley, Nani, Evra and Young are just some of the players who should be shown the door.
And slam it behind them!
I think he will, would’ve been impossible to do a clear out when he came especially since it was a team that won the league, he’ll get rid of a good few and bring in players who actually want to do well for the team and for him
Exactly – Moyes will have a clear-out in the summer. He’s not going to come in and start bulldozing a squad in his first season.
Some fan you are with a pic like that
Reckon Gilesy has been sitting beside Dunphy for too long.
Must have captured his mannerisms.
Cop on, loyalty to Man Utd is not measured by loyalty to Moyes. It’s clear as day he’s out of his depth and simply not good enough. The only reason people still support him is Fergie choosing him and not wanting to turn into Chelsea. Acting on the glaringly obvious fact that he’s not good enough does not make us Chelsea. However the failure to act will probably make us Everton. Nobody can define what makes Moyes good enough because there is nothing to suggest he is. One season was a risk, but a second with a trophy-less manager is a recipe for disaster. I wouldn’t trust him with 150m after spending 28 on Fellaini and wasting mata on the wing.
Dunphy is a legend
Cue Van Persie’s wife writing up on Twitter that Johnny Giles is a rotten c#nt
Brian Clough didn’t get 18 months at Leeds in a very similar situation.
Em, I think the Leeds team at the time of Clough’s takeover were a likkle bit better than what Moyes has at the mo!!!!!!
I totally disagree with that. That Leeds team were the best team at that time and United we’re the best side when Moyes took over. United won the league by a margin of 11 points last season. Paint it whatever way you want but a decent manager does not take a team from champions to also rans in such a short time. And why is it any different for Giles to have felt it necessary for Clough to go for being too removed from Revie but thinks Moyes should be given 18 months to strip down this United team. Giles was in Van Persie’s boots all those tears ago and I think it’s ironic how he sees two similar situations so differently.
Ya but Van Persie didn’t want the managers job like Giles did.
Good point. Van Persie was told he’d have a few years under Fergie, so both had an excuse to throw a strop I guess. I personally don’t think van Persie should of spoken out publicly but think its ironic to draw the parallel of Giles and Clough.
Clough was handed brilliant players by Revie on a plate but Clough wanted to strip them of their achievements overnite. So the players rebelled. Bad management me thinks! Poor Moyes was handed a team of poor players but well managed by Fergie. Good management. Man U’s time is spent so get used to it. Welcome to the Championship!!!! ;)
Clough turned up on Day 1 and told all the Leeds players they were s**t and to throw their medals away because they won by playing dirty which he considered cheating. He hated leeds. Only took it to get one over on Revie who used to blank him and never gave him credit as a manager.
WTF
Excellent analysis
Utd won the league last year off the back of the teams below them playing terrible football man utd were the best of a bad bunch
Your wrong, Leeds were incredible at that time and united today are the same team (excluding schoolers) that walked the championship last year. BTW they only won by 11 points because they went on cruise control for the last four matches. What makes me certain that Moyes is out of his depth are his comments afterwards. He’s always saying things like, I don’t know how we didn’t score, I don’t know what else we could have done, we were unlucky etc….. As nice as he is, he is well out of his depth
That Leeds team won what 2 titles? Giles preaches about loyalty and playing for the manager but his Leeds team lay down when challenged by Clough. I can see elements of that now and Moyes has certainly got on the wrong side of some players from an early start.
Far too simplistic also to say it was a bad league last season. United pulled out some massive wins at Ethiad, Anfield and Stamford Bridge. You can’t tell me united would of won the league last season playing how they have been this season. I think they over achieved last year but not by the extent they’re currently under achieving.
With all due respect, anyone could have predicted Man Utd would go from champions to also rans in a short space of time when Fergie retired. He was squeezing the absolute max out of that decent but not outstanding squad for the last 3 seasons, countless 1-0 and 2-1 victories for Utd last season. No other manager in the game could have achieved the title with that squad.
As Roy Keane pointed out though, they’ve been “cutting corners” in the transfer market for years (ever since Ronaldo and Tevez left) and that transfer policy has now finally come home to roost.
Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal were all a complete shambles last year and made Man Utd look much better than they genuinely are.
Their title win last year was characterised by fight and dogged determination, not flair or quality.
Peter this is coming from a pundit (Giles) who has said time and time again that managers / players should not give interviews after matches because they can be still caught up in the heat of a game . So I would take what RVP says with a pinch of salt .
I prefer hurling…..
Aidan Jennings, I had to read through an awful lot of bullshit posts before I came across some sense.
United fans have been saying to me for 3 or 4 years that this current crop is average at best. It takes a great man to win titles with such a squad, and that great man – love him or hate him – was Ferguson. It’s not fair to assume that after 27 years, the new guy (be he Moyes or Mourinho) can swan in and achieve continuity of success with any players, let alone the current United ones.
United greatly overachieved in recent years, no doubt, and now those legs and minds are a year older, and their papa has gone. And apart from the aging bodies of Giggs, Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra, you have diva pups like Rooney and Van Persie, and mid-table players like Valencia, Rafael, Cleverly, Jones and Smalling to accomodate.
Change is on the way, but Giles is right, Moyes should at least be given a chance.
Peter, watch The Damned United. That’ll educate you about what happened at ER.
Have read the book and both Giles and Cloughs family have rubbished it. Even the author said its fact mixed with fiction so don’t believe everything you read Jerry.
Roy Keane should be Man Utd manager. Period…!
Rooneys contract has made a joke of united , they can’t sign any top players now unless they match that money ! Also the half decent players ( which is what Rooney is at the moment) that are already there will want the same !!! Man united are gonna end up going the same way as Leeds united ! A ridiculous contract to give a player of Rodney’s stature and one which is gonna piss off the rest of their squad ! Red thumb away !!! It’s the truth tho and ye know it !
I don’t think that’s entirely fair. Certainly top players know there is money there but they also know they will not match Rooneys wage.
Paying any player £300,000 a week is a mistake. In the end the fans and supporters have to pay the price in the form of sky high ticket prices which ordinary working class people find difficult to afford. In addition the TV companies will be forced to bid more and more to show the matches to their global audiences and raise the cost of their subscriptions accordingly. By playing such a ridiculous salary to one player, Man U has reduced the amount of money available to pay the new players it obviously needs and raised the expectations of the other players and any players it seeks to attract to the club. Football is a team sport. If one player is paid so much more than others jealousies and rivalries will arise. Some good players will want to leave and the less talented and ageing players will be left playing in the shadow of The Chosen One. The FA should introduce a wages cap. Otherwise football will continue to be dominated by clubs owned by foreign billionaires and money, not talent, tactics, management, coaching or the individuals players themselves will determine who wins, games, cups and leagues.
Van Persie is an outstanding player but also a glory hunting mercenary. When times are tough he is one guy who won’t be found battling in the trenches. Sadlier said nothing controversial tonight – he was as usual, a rock of common sense.
For the love of god please get rid of Richie “the spoofer” Sadiler. He tries so hard to be controversial.
Here here! Thought I was the one who thought lowly of this chancer!
The phrase you were looking for was hear hear. And i actually like him as a pundit. He brings some much needed current thinking to that panel to balance out the older generation.
Richie is fine.
Far from the worst on the RTE payroll
He’s brutal, kept saying “what’s moyes stamp?” Or something like that. It’s not his first job Richie,he did a really good job with a pretty big club before getting utd job. Tabloid s**t merchant.
Go on so Davin , what is moyes stamp ?????? You say he managed a big club ? With all due respect to Everton ( I’m a pool supporter) they are a great club but arnt close to uniteds league ! He was a poor choice on day 1 and fergie only championed him to make his legacy look better ! Mourinho shud have got that job ! Kinda like a Ferrari racing my Volkswagen caddy !!!!
Everton laughing now Martinez is doing a tremendous job with them
You’re right the bloke is a moron
Some Everton fans were actually unhappy with Moyes with years. I can see why now!
And UTD are above them in the league
I agree that sadlier grates big time, a younger person is required to balance out the older lads, but not this guy. He has been groomed on rte over the last 5 years but I can’t understand why. He keeps looking up at the ceiling for some reason, and he says stuff just for the sake of being different or controversial. Giles is getting a bit senile at this stage but he owned Ritchie last night. Giles explained when challenged by Ritchie exactly what he meant by moyes getting a chance to put his own stamp on things, while adding the caveat that he wasn’t sure whether he could actually do it successfully. Ritchie had nothing to come back.
For how long?? They’re in disarray, the giants have fallen.
Does it make you feel like a better person when you get to correct my spelling?
So utd compare themselves to Everton now do they Paul? That’s the benchmark. Fair enough
Luke, you just proved the point.
Kevin, if I was a man u supporter I think I would want moyes out fairly soon, this season is over and someone new would have a chance to bed in before summer, however if you want to give moyes a proper chance then Giles was right to say that he should be given this summer to put his own stamp on the team, however like most people I suspect whether it would be a success ultimately as he’s not proven at this level, it would be a big gamble for man u, but last year they seemed to be willing to take that long term gamble.
I totally agree with you Noel. All I was saying is that they are running around like headless chickens at the moment. Moyes should be given the chance to prove himself, too many managers are being sacked after a couple of months because they’re expected to get results straight away. But I wonder, was Moyes the right man for the job, I mean he has to step into the shoes of arguably the best manager that ever graced the football league.
Ya, fergie made sure he was passing on a poisoned chalice tho, he did take his eye off the ball in terms of transfers ever since Keane, Ronaldo etc left. The nub of the problem is man u wanted to give moyes a fair chance and nobody expected them to do well at all this year including the fans, but is the extent of the under-performance so much so as to do irreparable damage to moyes? I have to say I can’t see any coherent plan or philosophy in moyes’ tactics whatsoever. Can man u afford to wait 2 years for moyes to learn more on the job? Ultimately to find that he still isn’t cut out?
I think Moyes is doing a great job. Hope he sees out his 6 year contract #MoyesIn
Gilesie demonstrated tonight why his best years as a pundit are long behind him. Whelan talking a load of crap about Moyes too. Moyes is clearly out of his depth – no harm to the man, not his fault he was promoted well above his abilities and his cv – and giving him £100m+ & at least another year will only leave a bigger mess for the next manager to clean up. Ridiculous to say the right thing to do is to ship out a load of medal-laden players & let Moyes then bring in a load of his own players; he can’t motivate, organise or inspire this bunch of serial winners so what is to say he’ll do it with a new batch? What about his agricultural style of football? What about his wretched record away to ‘big four’ clubs which betrays his tactical ineptitude? What of his lack of working with a big budget? What of his lack of CL experience? What of his lack of experience of working with a big squad with big egos? All these things point to him being out of his depth and if Utd had asked these questions last summer then they would never have even considered him to replace Fergie let alone actually appoint him
Spot on
Fergie picked him so obviously they listened
What did Giles and Whelan say that hasn’t been said by other pundits even sadlier is just spouting the same old thing get rid of moyes or give him money to buy but the biggest thing that will stop the progression of united under moyes is the contract he just gave Rooney .
By doing this piece of business with Rooney a man that ferguson has already said wanted to leave the club has increased the wages the club will have to pay to other top top players decreasing the money they have to spend on the fee of the player.
Not to mention if united don’t get into the champions league this year they won’t be buying the cream of the crop .
WOW, you do realise that you totally spat your dummy out of the pram with that rant? If you are that way inclined still, write MUFC a letter. Just a suggestion.
Keeps Moyes there,he’s doing a wonderful job,a record breaking season for Man U. West Brom,Swansea etc etc. Never lost in Greece, another record broken! This is brilliant, utd fans going around with nothing to gloat about,poor craturs don’t know what’s going on
Well said Cian. Let me tell you what’s going to happen. If he stays….and that’s a big if…..he will win nothing…he will keep the team mid-table, he will replace world class talent with mediocre players like Felleani. The glazers are worried, it’s more difficult to build up a good team than to maintain one. He’ll be gone by May.
I think everybody banging on Rio is unfair….. The man will be retiring at the end of this season and alot of people tend to forget that he’s 35 and has been through some serious injuries. When he was in the peak of his career he was one of the best center halfs in Europe, judging him on what he is doing now is stupid….it’s like calling pele shite at soccer today at 70 years of age… Van Persie is gutless though, and half the reason he’s sulking is because of rooney’s new contract…. Not the main man anymore…. How moyes rates cleverly ahead of kagawa or felliani is beyond me, and to not even bring januzaj is just scandalous…. While united are poor this season, what shocked me the most was the lack of effort they showed in greece…. it looked like they wanted to get knocked out, olympiakos did nothing special to win that match… It’s performances like these which makes soccer sickening at times knowing that no matter how bad you play, you’ll still get your 100k a week…. absolute joke of a sport with shite like this….
Maybe they’re not paying those United lads enough!
Totally agree with Giles. RVP should not have come out and say what he said last night. He would be the first person I’d sell as he clearly doesn’t want to stay at the club. The following players should also be kicked out the door. Rafael, Ferdinand( to the pension office with Evra). Cleverly, Young, Nani, Valencia, Welbeck, Carrick and his wife. I’d give Kagawa a chance as he hasn’t got a fair deal
The board have to take some of the blame last summer moyes had numerous transfer targets and they never got any of them I’ve been saying for a long time Ferdinand Young Cleverley Rafael Nani Valencia Welbeck arnt good enough to play for man utd that’s 7 players that’s a lot to replace and now vidic is going aswell, give the man till next Christmas and see how things are then, United arnt like Chelsea or Man City who sack their manager after 6 months so give him time to build his own team and judge home in another year or so and if things are the same then maybe it’s time for a change. As for RVP he is a class player but when things arnt going well you keep your head down work harder and help your team don’t just throw your toys out of the pram when you feel like it.
Leave moyes there he’s doing a great job, with those arrogant ba—–s.
Am I the only person that’s delighted with Man U’s current form? But then again, I suppose my view is coloured by the fact that I don’t support them.
who would want to play for moyes and his amazing backroom staff? i wouldnt blame rvp if he left, the rooney contract probably annoyed alot of the players considering his antics in the past. not to mention they won the league easily with him on the bench. moyes is a clown and he should be sacked, could go on for hours about the mistakes he has made.
Liverpool realised Roy Hodgson wasn’t the right man for the job moved him on before things got irretrievably bad and brought in the right man took the hit and moved on. The yanks got a pool of potential top managers they were interested and interviewed them for the job which allowed them to make an informed decision Now there making progress. It’s not how most clubs pick managers but I reckon it was a bit of genius by Warner. You could see the system and ethos Rodgers was implementing from day 1 with the players he was buying & the way he set his team up it took a bit of time but it’ now your seeing the rewards As a United fan we need a manager who has a clear system in place I wouldn’t mind some loosing a few games if I could see Moyes was trying to implement a new system but I just can’t see any. And the 2 signings he’s made (as good as Mata is) seem haphazard I can’t see where they fit or what he’s trying to do with them. I like Moyes & think he’ll go on a do a good job elsewhere but he dosnt fit. He’s our Roy Hodgson it’s time we moved him on
This is similar to when Roy Hodgson was at liverpool. The press wanted him given more time while everyoone else could see he was out of his depth and just not good enough to manage and be successful at a top club. Some United players are bad at thr moment but Moyes is actually making them look worse.
Spot on
You get rid of all those players (9-10) which has to be done, and unless there’s a serious amount of good youth players coming through no one knows about, then a fu€k sight more than £200 million will be needed to restructure the team in the way the fans will want it restructured. The Glazers will be off down the credit union.
Ragin I switched Off early
Not Van persies’s fault the midfield and wingers are sh*t if he was getting good balls into him he’d be banging the goals in. He’s had injuries this year but still scores nearly every time he plays.I wouldn’t be happy either if it was Valencia, young or nani crossing them in, should if concentrated more in keeping van persie happy than giving rooney 300 k a week it looks like we’ve lost him now , more than likely leave and I don’t blame him , as for Giles the only reason him and the rest of the rte panel have a job is because they normally cause a bit if controversy with there comments, good for ratings
Rte panel is years ahead of that on Itv or Sky.y ideal panel would be Giles,Sadlier,Brady,Dunphy and Kean…you would need a riot police to stop them shouting at each other.
Van Persie wouldn’t be banging goals in sure isn’t there people going into his part of the pitch getting in his way
That would be epic
14 goals in 20 appearances this season, can’t ask for much more than that,basically won the league for united last season, have to keep players like him happy , instead awards Rooney with a 300k a week contract
There was a stat on twitter last nite that showed the total passes between Rooney and van persie . 1 , just 1 in the entire game last nite and a similar stat in yer game v Fulham , for yer sake I hope that stat is bulls#*t !
I’m pretty sure your right with those stats although the Fulham game was one of the weirdest I’ve watched around 90 crosses,never seen anything like it and yesterday was sh*t from everybody but van persie being picked out by people is unfair, he’s one of the players who have done well this season despite everything that’s gone, he’s been injured for a lot of it too, just think united haven’t really shown some of their most important players that they value them,rooney has a new contract and I reckon van persies’s gone and they won’t replace 30 goals a season ( when fit) no matter who Moyes brings in. Also won’t replace vidic, still had another year or two in him
Footballs changed though , it’s more of an industry, you need people who have played or managed recently giving analysis otherwise you’re just going to hear crap that’s not as relevant now as it was when the panel played or managed, only one who managed recently was Brady and he was afraid to say anything bad about trappatoni. For entertainment watch rte if you want to actually hear some good analysis it’s sky sports all day , a mix of just retired , still playing and veteran players and sometimes managers , although watching Roy keane beats both channels any day of the week. Tells it how it is and doesn’t just say it for controversy like rte
Richard Sadlier is a prat. Who puts this idiot on TV??
Fair chance RVP will be gone this summer I assume, he must be wondering what is going on at old Trafford? He was sold on the Idea of working under ferguson, which was obviously a lie in the first place. He scores a serious amount of goals in his first season and wins the league. Then manager retires, moyes comes in and RVP’s strike partner gets a new deal which pays twice his own salary! The chap is probably entitled to be a bit pissed off
Go easy on RVP. After all it’s not him it’s the little boy inside him
Astonishing how champions have turned into a tactically inept, grossly overpaid prima donnas, who appear to lost their appetite for the game. Rooney contract is blatant stupidity just to hold on to a slightly above average player, surrounded by many below average players this year.
New manager thrown in at deep end and not coping well at this level. Obvious discontent in the ranks and not playing as a team. I think the glory days are over for a few years as it will take some time to resolve this tragedy.
Bring on youngsters with something to prove and some pride in playing for Utd.
The squad is past it’s use by date and there is not enough money to replace the players needed in one season.
I hope the academy has some talent readied for next season.
Just heard the Glazers have given Moyes 12 games to turn it around…..that ain’t gonna happen…. Goodbye Moyes….
Sadlier is a chancer and I met Giles in the cock tavern in Howth about 25 yrs ago. He looked like death warmed up. Cant believe he’s still going ! Although he is getting very forgetful and spouts the same nonsense every game. As for Dunphy, well he is perhaps the biggest chancer of all !. Brady is the only one that has any credibility on that panel. Keane is the only one on UTV and Neville is the only one on sky. UTD have been poor this season but there is a second tie at OT in 3 weeks and UTD will bounce back.. gloryglory
Moyes is just the wrong man for the job, his coaching tactics and man management are terrible. He focuses too much on the opposition and how to nullify them rather than how to go out and beat them.
The players on the pitch last night have more than enough ability to beat a poor olympiakos team (who sold their best player to bottom of the league Fulham in january).
Personally I don’t think Moyes should be allowed to buy anymore players, I think he bought badly and he is to blame for the poor defence. Smalling Rafael and Jones are too unreliable, Ferdinand and vidic should not be played together so I think he needed to invest in a world class center back.
Just want to reiterate what a clown Richard Sadlier is. He turns me off watching coverage. Whatever about the other pundits, at least they have played at some sort of level for a sustained period. The look of disdain on the other pundits faces when this joker gives an opinion. Get rid rte, get rid.
He’s got red hair..
As a united fan listening to shite talk from other united fans is sickening. Then the Liverpool brigade roll in. United have had a poor squad for years and ferguson was able to cover it up with management. They didn’t try on Tuesday night and that was the sickening thing. Liverpool celebrate as they are ahead of United. Well done. After your greatest season in the league in 20 years you will have the same honours as united come may !
It’s very enjoyable to watch the manu decline, after 20 + years of bragging and slagging from utd fans, the chickens have come home to roost. The extent to which the utd fans cant take what they happily gave out for so long, just adds to the enjoyment! Ever hear of Murphys dog?
Another fine argument. No silverware yet mouthing off. As much as so called united fans who have never been near old Trafford and wouldn’t even know that its not in Manchester !
Where would you get it, one of the greatest players of all time, telling it like it is,
I’d rather listen to Bertie
Don’t even compare Giles Leeds side to them bunch of poofs,hunter bremner and Giles would have shown them about pride in the badge,bunch of whinging girls…
United is the last thing they are.
While Giles wanted Moyes to be allowed more time to shape United, fellow pundit Richie Sadlier called on the league champions to cut the Scot loose. “Moyes has shown in the last few months that he is completely out of his depth,” said Sadlier.
That’s not the impression I got from Sadlier when watching this. I think Richie wanted questions asked instead of falling back on the old reliable “He needs more time”. I don’t recall a suggestion that Moyes should be just axed.
Moyes wouldn’t be good enough to shine Clough’s boots.
Just sayin.