All posts by h79snht.top

The debate for which player truly has been the greatest performer in the Premier League this season has been in question recently. The PFA and LMA will hand out their own awards but this won’t stop heated discussion up and down the country as to who really is deserving of these accolades. But when we engage in these conversations, does player perception tarnish our judgement as to who is the best footballer?

Gareth Bale is the latest star to the take the limelight and stake his claim in recent games for being the best the Premier League has to offer. Barcelona star Gerard Pique admitted in his most recent interview that the talent of the Tottenham star was even of intense debate in the Nou Camp dressing room. It appears that he is faultless at the moment, before you are forced to consider an objection of “oh but he dives”.

The same sort of retorts are made as people makes sighs of derision if you are to imply Luis Suarez is world class. If you suggest the Uruguayan is truly the best you will have to fend off complaints of “he is a cheat” from fans you debate with.

It has lead several to conclude that Robin van Persie is the best purely because he is perceived to be a saint due to his etiquette on the pitch.

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This is not a swipe at the talent of the Dutchman but the press seem to have already given him an unfair advantage, because he is not seen to cheat over the likes of Bale and Suarez. This does not mean he always is the perfect role model in how he acts on matchdays however.

Is judging the character of a player relevant though to deciding who is the very best footballer? There are several supporters who have been warped into the idea though that it is 100 per cent necessary to drudge up every player’s dirty laundry when discuss their footballing talent.

It is desirable for the fans seeing their players acting like true gentlemen and it may make the average football fan warm to them, but it doesn’t exactly guarantee success. Trophies are won and lost on goals, assists and dominant performances when we look at the cold hard facts. There are some that desperately want to cling on to the notion that players should score negative points for actions outside of their footballing ability, but they should dismiss these now.

The fact that several supporters love to hate Luis Suarez does not make him any less of a superb talent. While we may also wince at Gareth Bale’s simulation against Inter Milan at White Hart Lane, it does not make his winning goal against West Ham any less decisive.

I am not stating such discussion should be merely based on statistics because if we were to go on goals and assists alone we would have to conclude that Walcott has currently been more efficient than Bale. And while some in North London want that to be true, it is not.

When we consider who is the best we need to balance up a few factors. Firstly the impact the player has on their side and where we predict they would have ended up without them.

Secondly, how important have their goals/assists actually been, because if Luis Suarez scored 30 goals all in 4-1 defeats we would hardly be calling him a great would we?

Then you need to consider whether the player has truly made an impact on his team winning any silverware or achieving the team’s goals.

Robin van Persie may have the advantage in that he is playing for Manchester United in this part of the discussion, but it is unfair to discriminate against his ability because he is playing for the best team.

If a player is truly the best then a mark of his success should surely be how much tangible reward he has provided for his side at the end of the season.

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We may all swear and curse the next time we see a great footballer not follow the rules of the game as we would like them too, but this will not detract from their talent.

The players who commit such offences walk a tightrope because if their level drops then the fans won’t be so forgiving of their mistakes. Whether players dive or cheat is irrelevant though to how good they are at a football, however much that hurts to admit.

If we can’t accept that then maybe we should leave the task of deciding who is the best to the professionals who hand out the awards every season.

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Thank God that’s over.

A season that started with hope and a genuine belief that we would grab an automatic promotion place, finished with the the team limping over the line and only securing their safety with one game to go. It’s fair to say that nobody will be sad to see the back of that season.

On the last day, Blackpool managed to come away with a point in a somewhat poetic 90 minutes that mirrored the entire season. The Seasiders dominated the first half, with some nice football in spells, before a total capitulation just before half time. This was followed by a bit of nothingness before the players had to dig in, steady the ship and show some resilience to see the game out.

As well as providing some great entertainment (a rare treat under Paul Ince so far) the match also served as a demonstration to prove some idiots wrong. By idiots, I of course mean anyone with a slightly different opinion to me…

Anybody who said that we should be getting rid of Matt Phillips was surely shown to be wrong. Again he proved more effective than Ince, and the fans who suggested we sell him for pennies in January must have felt a little foolish as he lashed the ball into the net.

The fact that we haven’t seen both Ince and Phillips on form at the same time is a crying shame. And with the possibility of losing one, if not both of them in the summer, we can only sit and imagine how unplayable they’d have been. Oh well.

Anyone who said that Sylvestre isn’t good enough for the first team was shown up too. Away to Bolton was another game that he stood out as our most creative player. His vision and composure on the ball are second to none. He is the only player we have capable of spotting and executing a defence-splitting pass. And after almost single-handedly keeping us up with some stunning goals that won us 8 points in the last 6 games, he will now be much-sought after in the summer as we try and tie him down to another contract. If Paul Ince has any sense, he should build the team around him – just as Holloway promised in the summer, but failed to commit to. Having Sylvestre and somebody like Martinez alongside him in the middle of the pitch is something that will excite fans and worry the opposition.

Finally, anyone who ever said that Broadfoot is our best defender should have been questioning their commitment to the brave Scot. The joy of a final game where you’re not on the edge of your seat, biting your nails, is that you can watch players with a calm, non-biased outlook, and when you do that you realise how poor he is. He’s dire on the ball and never seems to be in control of his feet. I applaud him for coming in and creating a solid partnership with MacKenzie, something that was a massive part of keeping us up, but we need better next year. In fact, we have better on the bench. No matter how much people don’t like Eardley, there’s no doubting that he is a better right-back than Broadfoot. And, for me, Cathcart is a better central defender than him too – he just can’t defend corners quite as well…

So that was the end of a long, long season. Thinking back to when Holloway was here seems like ages ago. Was that really this season? And Appleton too? It is strange to think that we have had four different men in charge this term. Expectations have been up and down so many times, and although a football season normally flies by, it’s almost a relief to get this season of turmoil out of the way.

Behind the scenes, work has already started on putting this season behind us. A lot of people said that we needed a clear-out, and that’s just what we got as Blackpool announced their retained list. And I can’t say I’m heartbroken at the appearance of any names on that list.

Of the 13 players who haven’t been offered a new deal, or had their option exercised, I’d suggest that around half a dozen could walk into my living room without being recognised – the legacy of Ian Holloway’s crazy transfer strategy.

The big surprise came as Ian Evatt was allowed to leave, but then again, after spending a large part of the season on the sidelines, it isn’t a decision which will have a huge impact on the first team.

Not a surprise as such, but saying goodbye Tiago Gomes, Gerado Bruna and Elliot Grandin is a decision that shows the kind of player that Ince wants. Or doesn’t want. Gomes in particular was a major part of the side which started the season so well. Even after that, he continued to show his class when the team was struggling. His drive and desire to run was admirable and his quality on the ball was missed when he wasn’t included. He suffered an unfortunate injury, and didn’t feature in the run-in, but he was a decent player who possesses more quality than the likes of Basham who have been kept on.

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Elsewhere, work has already begun on replacing the pitch. Enough has been said about the pitch over the last few months, so it’s just good to get rid of it and hope that next season we will have a surface able to hold up right through the winter, and allow us to play some football. On the other hand, I do wonder whether there will be any football played on it. Paul Ince did a fantastic job of keeping us in this division, but I can’t say I enjoyed any of it. Not just because it’s unnerving watching every team below you pick up points, but because the football we played for the last 2 months was very rarely desirable.

Ince has come out and said that his favourite scoreline is 1-0. Of the many variations of a winning scoreline, that is probably my least favourite. Similarly, finishing a game 0-0 is my least favourite way to draw a match. As I’ve said, Ince did brilliantly to keep us up, and if his chosen style of football was part of the plan, then well done. There was a lack of confidence, we were leaking goals, and we had an unplayable pitch, so it can be forgiven. If that’s how he plans to play next season, however, then there will be some disgruntled fans in the stands.

So, as we head into a long (probably wet) summer of no sport, with a couple of months of shopping and DIY to look forward to, all we can do is get ready for another season of ups and downs. Fixtures are released on Wednesday 19 June. Just over a month to go…

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I absolutely despise the term ‘refreshing’ when used in a discussion about football. Honestly, what does it really mean? That you’re too snobbish to accept what the modern game is all about? Or is it that you used one instance to try and convince everyone (and yourself) that you were always the most forward-thinking of football observers? It doesn’t really matter, Manchester United’s decision to appoint David Moyes as their next manager is something you can quite comfortably class as ‘refreshing.’

It’s that United didn’t take the obvious route and opt for any of the bigger names on this summer’s merry-go-round. Although, it could be argued that Moyes always was the obvious choice, with his background and approach to the game incredibly similar to that of Alex Ferguson. And that’s why I don’t see a problem at all. It’s an old-school appointment and one that might have been seen as the norm 20 years ago. Regardless of Moyes’ lack of experience and successes on the silverware front, this is a fantastic decision for the club with a long-term plan in place.

The thing about this one is that I’ve seen people suggest Moyes will struggle to attract big names from the continent this summer because of his lack of European experience. The immediate comparisons drawn up were that of Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp, almost as if to suggest the Portuguese and German didn’t start somewhere themselves. Both of those managers didn’t magically find themselves at the pinnacle of the European game overnight. There is and should always be far more to football than just experience in Europe’s top club competition.

But why wouldn’t some of the best players in Europe want to work with Moyes? How about the fact that he is one of the best managers in England? I’m not really interested in the finer details of Everton at the moment, but there is a reason why he is one of the longest serving managers in the Premier League. Whether Everton had reached a glass ceiling in English football is another discussion, but this move up in the game for Moyes was rapidly approaching and this is proving to be the perfect time for things to fall into place for all parties.

There’s far too much sensationalism in England about football clubs crumbling under one managerial decision which is deemed to be wrong. How many times have Chelsea got it wrong, and yet they’re in another cup final. It’s always been about the safe option in this country, that primarily being what people know best. Yeah sure, let’s always have clubs splash out on the big-name striker from Italy instead of the shrewd move for the unknown in Eastern Europe. People will be quick to criticise and question because they’re afraid of the uncertain future.

David Moyes and his new six-year contract is an incredibly good choice for Manchester United. What needs to be established first is that Moyes isn’t Ferguson MKII. Despite being cut from the same cloth, Moyes is his own man and will do things his way. That may not come immediately, as even with his retirement Alex Ferguson will remain on board and allow for an easy transition. That also doesn’t mean or guarantee trophies will continue to rain down on Old Trafford. If United wanted that they would have appointed Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese is a natural winner and almost guarantees trophies every year. He’s also unbelievably short term. Manchester United have too much about them to just address the next couple of seasons rather than thinking about five, 10 and 15 years into the future. Moyes’ success at developing youngsters is also a nod to that.

As recently as March it was strongly argued that Moyes’ best move was abroad if he decided not to extend at Everton. The Bundesliga had a number of interesting projects and Malaga also came to the fore recently. That was due to the right move in England not being available at the time, not because he wasn’t good enough for a title-challenging club in the Premier League.

What I find fantastic about this appointment by United is that they were brave. They were brave and said no, thank you when Mourinho gave them that look signalling the green light for an advance. They were brave when the modern game demands success so quickly that at other clubs Moyes would likely get nowhere near to his sixth year on the contract. Moreover, it sets Manchester United up once again as the trend setters. The biggest club in England have told everyone else that it’s absolutely ok to go against the norm and do what you think is right, rather than cave in to outside pressure.

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A relatively green manager at the top of the English and European game will only learn to be a success at a club with a fine winning tradition.

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Only long-term injury can build a player up to be something he’s not. Cheers broke out as Nicklas Bendtner took to the pitch against Aston Villa in January 2010, the return of a natural striker and the final dismissal of Andrey Arshavin as the team’s centre-forward.

The cheers and applause weren’t quite as vociferous as they were following the Dane’s winning leap to head Arsenal ahead in the North London Derby in 2007 – probably the player’s finest moment in an Arsenal shirt – but the fans were giving him a platform and, by default via injury to others, so too was the manager.

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Can anyone really claim that any of Arsene Wenger’s signings have been treated poorly while they’ve been at the club? Many have advocated the line that Wenger had ruined Arshavin by playing him on the wing, while doing much the same for Bendtner by offering him the same treatment. It should say a lot about the Danish striker that his best moment for Arsenal came against Tottenham. After that, it’s a little difficult to string together a decent highlight reel of his efforts. There was that one strike against Blackburn in October 2009, but Arsenal were already 5-2 up before Bendtner rifled in the sixth.

The frustrating and lazy side of the player has been highlighted on many occasions. Despite it being over two years since Bendtner wore an Arsenal shirt in a competitive game, you can still quite easily envisage him lightly jogging, gum in mouth, to close down an opposition defender, of whom he really had no real intention of putting under any great threat. That’s where Wenger does come into this. The Frenchman will rarely, if ever, shout onto the pitch from the touchline. Coincidently, one instance did see the manager abandon his calm exterior when Bendtner himself surrendered possession with a childish back heel while Arsenal were holding onto a lead with only a few minutes remaining.

Bendtner could have been another one of Wenger’s success stories. Ok, he was unlikely to ever become a player in the class of Thierry Henry or Cesc Fabregas, of even Robin van Persie. But it was all there to set up another one of Wenger’s ‘masterstrokes’ in the market, having picked up the Dane as a teenager for £220,000. He earned his stripes in English football with the loan spell at Birmingham, helping the club to win promotion to the Premier League. Though Bendtner didn’t look to be typical Wenger signing – he possesses none of the technical qualities of the three aforementioned former captains – he was a youngster with potential; a necessary balance to help add a rougher edge to Arsenal’s attractive play.

The player, however, never wanted it. Like so many others in recent years, Arsenal is probably the best he’s going to get in his career. Ok, he’s spent a loan spell at Juventus, but absolutely nothing came of it. At Arsenal, Bendtner was given opportunities to play, even if they were on the right side of the attack. The frustration is understandable, but hard work would have been rewarded. He could have been a hero at Arsenal regardless of the poor showings of the past had he taken his opportunity in the Camp Nou and sent Arsenal through in the Champions League. His lack of intelligence, however, came to the fore, bringing the ball closer to Javier Mascherano rather than keeping the Argentine at a distance and getting his shot off.

Bendtner isn’t a lost cause, though. He’s often performed well for his country which forced the question as to whether there is a future for him at Arsenal. At 25, that ship has sailed. We’ve seen nothing in the way of consistency to say that this is a player who is good enough to lead the line for a club of Arsenal’s stature. Until now he wouldn’t accept that. There was confidence often spilling over into arrogance, as if Arsenal should feel privileged to have him in the squad.

The Dane will take a step down in football, below his lofty expectations. Napoli won’t come calling, neither will Atletico Madrid. A Champions League club, for now, may be out of reach. The flipside of the argument of his age is that there is still plenty of time to properly blossom into a leading forward for a top club. Borussia Monchengladbach have been touted: a good club that will offer the seemingly nomadic striker a home. For once, Bendtner should feel privileged that his career at the top of European football isn’t over well before it’s truly begun.

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Was Nicklas Bendtner treated badly at Arsenal or is his career the effects of a poor attitude?

Join the debate below

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Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has expressed just how vital Champions League is to him and the club.

The 33 year old has his testimonial today against Olympiakos at Anfield after a super, loyal career on Merseyside.

The England skipper had got used to playing Champions League football and competing at the top of the Premier League but has seen that slip away in recent seasons.

The Merseyside-born midfielder has vowed to help Liverpool return to those glory days before he retires in a few years’ time.

Gerrard knows that the fans will stay loyal until the club get back in the top four.

“While I’ve still got a couple of years left – and maybe a few more who knows – I have to make the most of it,” Gerrard told ITV Sport.

“And that is about adding more medals to what I already have and to leave this club in the Champions League. That is the challenge for me personally.

“It is not the same club (I joined) because we are not in the Champions League, so it becomes an awful lot more difficult to attract the top players.

“But I think the club’s history and size – we’ve just been on a tour which has seen us play in front of nearly a quarter of a million people in 10 days – means the pull is still here.

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“We need to break back into the top four to get back the pull we had four or five years ago when we were comfortably in the Champions League year in, year out and challenging to win it.

“Players who come and get the club back into the Champions League will experience some of the biggest nights of their career, because playing European football in front of this crowd is different to any other.”

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It wouldn’t be a FIFA event without controversy. The World Cup draw happened earlier this month, as representatives from each nation flew to Bahia to discover who they would be playing in 6 months time. After England’s tough draw, FA chairman Greg Dyke was in the press for the wrong reasons after being caught on camera making a throat cutting gesture. But that wasn’t the biggest controversy from the draw, oh no.

36-year-old actress and model Fernanda Lima was chosen to co-host the draw with FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke, which led to thousands of viewers taking to Twitter to share their comments on the model. It wasn’t long until Fernanda Lima was trending, with the Mirror claiming 10 people posted an update about her every second.

Whilst many of them would be men, possibly commenting on her gorgeous looks and pretty revealing dress, many females watching on weren’t just going to keep their opinions to themselves. The decision to make Lima the co-host has led to allegations of FIFA being sexist, employing a beautiful model with no relevance to sport to stand next to executives.

One of football’s toughest female executives, Karen Brady, was unimpressed with Miss Lima’s appointment: “Football is not only a game for everyone but incredibly influential. So for FIFA to put at centre stage a woman only there to be gawped at sends out a terrible message. I have had a number of young women contact me to complain about this. FIFA don’t seem to be able to get anything right at the moment.”

England Women’s football captain Casey Stoner also shared her disappointment at the choice of co-host, telling the Telegraph: “Giving the job to a model has sent out completely the wrong message. Unfortunately I wasn’t surprised. They could have had a woman high up in the game or else a player with proper international standing. This should have been about football.”

And it seems Stoner isn’t the only person to believe that a female player should have been on the stage. BBC broadcaster Jacqui Oatley shared a similar view to the England captain: “What a missed opportunity. Brazil have arguably the most talented female footballer in the world, the great Marta, five-time FIFA World Player of the Year. Why not use her to showcase the best of Brazil and show some of her spectacular goals?”

Is there any argument against this? Surely the draw for the biggest football tournament in the world should have football relevance? It’s not the first time that Sepp Blatter has been involved in allegations of racism. As well as describing one of the executive committee candidates as “good, and good-looking”, he upset many female audience members at the FIFA congress in May by saying: “Any ladies in this room? Say something ladies! You are always speaking at home. Now you can speak here.”

Back in 2004, Blatter suggested female footballers should have different rules on kits, in order to portray their beauty: “They could, for example, have tighter shorts,” Blatter remarked at the time. “Female players are pretty, if you excuse me for saying so, and they already have some different rules to men – such as playing with a lighter ball. That decision was taken to create a more female aesthetic, so why not do it in fashion? Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball.”

It’s not surprising that a dinosaur like Blatter can be involved in another sexism row, but it is surprising that he can be so blatant about it. Are FIFA only focused on impressing their male viewers, and forget that football is a sport for both genders? The appointment of Fernanda Lima was clearly for the large male viewing numbers, to give them someone to look at and enjoy, instead of listening to Blatter or Valcke ramble on about the confusing draw. Surely this cannot be acceptable in this day and age?

Is there any excuse or argument for Fernanda Lima’s involvement? Let’s not ask Blatter, and here one of his representatives defend him. What do you think? Share your views below! 

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Frank de Boer is a popular name in European football. He was part of what could be described as a golden era for Dutch football, being a member of the Ajax team who won the European Cup in 1995 and then finding success with Barcelona and the Netherlands national team.

De Boer’s appointment as manager of Ajax back in 2010 has proven to be a turning point for the club. Not only had they not tasted title success for the seven seasons prior to his arrival, but there were questions being asked of the brand of football on display at the Amsterdam Arena. Fans no longer identified with the product on the pitch.

De Boer immediately brought success back to the capital as well as the style of football that is so regularly associated with that part of the world. The club have competed in the Champions League in back-to-back seasons, beating Barcelona this season and finding themselves desperately unlucky not to qualify out of a group that featured a distinctly poor Milan side.

But is he the right choice for Tottenham, who are in the market for a replacement for Andre Villas-Boas? De Boer is like Jurgen Klopp – immediately a favourite any time a decent-to-good job becomes available. From the off, the Dutchman looks to be the right candidate for Spurs; he adheres to the type of football fans want to see at White Hart Lane. But it’s never as simple as that.

Managers like de Boer, Klopp and even Villas-Boas are about the long term. Yes, Ajax have won the Eredivisie title three seasons in a row now, but de Boer has made it absolutely clear that his work at the club is far from over. Conversely, managers like Guus Hiddink and Louis van Gaal, the older heads in European football, are much more capable of bringing instant results, something which Daniel Levy evidently wants to see after Tottenham’s most recent summer.

There is an expectancy about managers like de Boer; they’re the hipsters’ favourite, characters who can be described as advocating forward-thinking football. Fundamentally, it’s about matching up with or at least running on the same track as some of the leading clubs on the continent.

But Tottenham’s pursuit of de Boer seems futile and unrealistic. He’s already turned down Liverpool and Inter Milan in the recent past. He has a connection with Ajax obviously, but he also has a responsibility to the club. Why would he, such an important name in European football, leave his post midway through a season, especially for a club who will offer him no guarantees for long-term stability?

Tottenham don’t need another project, otherwise they would have kept faith with Villas-Boas. Daniel Levy should be pursuing a manager who can come in a right the ship with immediate effect. Ironically, someone like Harry Redknapp.

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The other important point to make about de Boer is his connection with Barcelona. Tata Martino isn’t having the most comfortable of spells in Catalonia, despite topping the La Liga table and emerging from their Champions League group as winners. There is a good chance Martino will be moved on at the end of the season, regardless of trophies, and de Boer may just decide to hold out for that job. But even with a possible opportunity to end up at the Camp Nou, we can infer from de Boer that he intends to stay at Ajax for the long haul.

Tottenham appear to be in the midst of a mini-revival under new man Tim Sherwood. Having matched their best away run since the 60’s and boosted their hopes of Champions League qualification in the process, it now seems strange that the managerial question continues to rear its head.

Given their recent Premier League run it perhaps isn’t surprising that many Spurs fans are blinded by optimism. Sherwood was hardly the number one pick after AVB’s dismissal, but many having seen the change in style and ambition are happy to see how this new era pans out. The fact he is English and up and coming is just an added bonus, something which perhaps gives what Spurs are achieving an added shine.

But Sherwood knows this early form will count for nothing if he fails to finish 4th in May. Champions League football is what Levy aims for and what he grades his managers on; already having seen the likes of Jol, Ramos and AVB fall by the wayside because of it; you shouldn’t expect Sherwood to get any leeway.

The 18-month contract seems to have blinded a lot of fans, many thinking that these extra 12 months tagged on the end somehow guarantee his survival. All it means is that Sherwood will get a slightly larger pay cheque should he be removed in the upcoming summer, a bit of financial security for the Englishman.

Sherwood’s appointment does come as a bit of a U-turn for Spurs, having previously favoured experienced and usually continental coaches. Redknapp’s sacking was as much a clash of ideologies as it was a frustration with results, and for Levy to suddenly revisit this style of management you have to think that there was no one else available.

It isn’t that I have it in for Sherwood; in fact I hope he succeeds, but the reality is that his appointment just doesn’t stack up. An illuminating interview with Sky last evening with Dutch boss Van Gaal was pretty enlightening in this regard. As for whether he was considered for the Spurs job, Van Gaal was happy to confirm the approach:

“Everybody knows it so I can admit it,” he added. “I don’t do things in a double function (holding two jobs at the same time).”

“You have to give an example to your players that they have to focus on the national team and that is my ambition also.”

“I have refused (the Tottenham job) but maybe there will come another chance. That is the difficulty with coaching. When you are free, then maybe there are no vacancies. When you are working, then there are vacancies. It is always difficult.”

“After the World Cup I shall retire or, if there is a Premier League club, I shall think about it.”

The 62 year old very much fits the billing for Spurs; extremely experienced and well known for playing an exciting brand of football and being successful with it. Many regard his Champions League winning Ajax side as one of the best ever and certainly one of the more entertaining. He has experience of our game at this highest level managing both Barcelona and Bayern Munich in what has been an illustrious career to date; a tilt at the Premier League is certainly missing from his repertoire.

The headlines may read that van Gaal rejected Spurs, but from his interview you get the impression his hands are very much tied by his international responsibilities. Ask him again come August and I am sure you will get a very different response.

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The fact Levy even asked him suggests he was a preference over Sherwood and that the Englishman is really nothing more than a stopgap. The Spurs Chairman would feel he has all bases covered here; if Sherwood’s successful great and if not he has an experienced ready made replacement waiting for him in the summer.

Maybe the cynicism when it comes to Levy has gone too far, but for me failure to achieve Champions League this term would make van Gaal an option not to be turned down easily.

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Manchester United season-ticket holders have claimed they purchased a plane which will tow a banner reading ‘Wrong One – David Moyes Out’ over Old Trafford this weekend, Mirror reports.

David Moyes is to be hurtled with more abuse as angry United supporters turn up the heat in their cause to sack the manager.

Together they have raised £840 to pay for an aircraft that will circle the stadium prior to the Red Devil’s Premier League fixture against Aston Villa, towing a banner with the words ‘Wrong One – Moyes Out’.

At the moment the former Everton boss is in charge of Manchester United’s worst ever Premier league season, and members of the Red Issue forum – who started the green gold campaign against the Glazer family – have had enough of Moyes.

One of the members by the name of Jake came out to say, “It was an idea put forward by a member of the Red Issue forum, because we have had enough of the ‘Chosen One’ banner.

“We set up a PayPal account on the forum and we raised nearly £1,000.

“The forum is made up of hardcore fans and I would say 90 per cent of them have had enough of David Moyes.

“It’s not just the results, it’s the excuses and the way we are playing.

“We don’t care that Sir Alex Ferguson says we should get behind him and we want people to know that not every single fan is behind David Moyes.”

A fan using twitter has recommended others to look up into the sky tweeting: “I’d urge all to look up from 10 mins before ko till 5 mins in.”

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On the other hand, reports that members of the legendary ‘Class of 92’ including David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, and Gary Neville have been dismissed as total “rubbish” by the club.

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In collaboration with Pepsi® MAX triple-threat actor/director/rapper Idris Elba has today released his first short film directorial debut “Unstoppable”.

The short, also written by Elba, takes a brief detour into the 1970’s, a golden age for international football, following a stereotypical school nerd as he negotiates the gauntlet of the school playing field.

The film explores the hidden-talents within all of us and features football skills expert Zach Hamilton. The short is set to and inspired by the latest hit from Dutch producer and DJ heavyweight, R3HAB featuring singer Eva Simons. Unstoppable was released today as the third track on the Pepsi® MAX Beats of the Beautiful Game album.

//www.youtube.com/embed/kng5E-ITyyU

“When I first heard the song I really loved the idea of being unstoppable…it’s self belief, it’s someone that just says “Guess what? I can do anything I want to do,” said Luthor star and ardant Gooner Idris Elba.

“I like the whole 70s era, the haircuts and the style, and I chose a character that is stereotypically a nerd, isn’t sporty looking…but [it] turns out that he really is good at [football], and he is unstoppable when he starts to let himself go.”

The song and accompanying film track is part of an exclusive collection of 11 anthemic songs and companion short films that capture the international spirit, sights and sounds of the world’s most popular game – football. A three-time IDMA winner who has risen through the ranks of ‘Breakthrough Artist,’ ‘Best Full-Length Mixer’ and ‘Best Remixer,’ R3HABhas done it again with “Unstoppable” – an infectious summer smash penned by celebrated singer/songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk.

“The songs and short films featured on the album vary in style and rhythm, just like footballers on a pitch,” said R3HAB. “My track ‘Unstoppable’ is inspired by the big-room sound and high energy of the stadium. I want fans who listen to it to get up and move.”

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Pepsi MAX Beats of the Beautiful Game showcases an eclectic mix of rising and celebrated musical artists from around the world including Kelly Rowland, Janelle Monáe, Rita Ora, Don Omar, Santigold, Timbaland and Jetta alongside regional favorites Pearls Negras (Brazil), Jolin Tsai (Taiwan) and Hassan El Shafei (Egypt). These artists’ songs serve as the inspiration for 11 short films by dynamic directors, including Spike Lee, Jessy Terrero, Diego Luna, Andy Morahan and The Kolton Brothers in addition to Idris Elba.

The album is part of the integrated 2014 Pepsi MAX football campaign, which continues to deliver experiences to fans throughout the year that bring them closer to the game they love.