Good read for close season dullness
The 10 Fergie's dodgiest keepers
1 Massimo Taibi The Don of Calamity's four appearances were so comical that Fergie wondered if 'Taibi' was Italian for 'nightmare'. Even his 1999 transfer from Venezia was fumbled, when an administrative delay meant he missed Champions League registration. Just as well, really. Taibi made his name against Southampton when Matt Le Tissier miscued a speculative shot so badly that he turned away in disgust. Taibi knelt to collect the daisycutter, but somehow let it slip between his gloves and legs. Like a good keeper, he had an excuse ready: 'I slipped as I went to pick the ball up. During the week I was asking for longer studs because the ones I have are too short.' Things got worse at Chelsea a week later. Taibi kept a clean sheet for all of 28 seconds, before rushing off his line to be easily beaten in the air by Gus Poyet. United lost 5-0. The BBC later alleged Jason Ferguson's company Elite was paid £50,000 to move him on. Money well spent.
2 Mark Bosnich The Australian first arrived at Old Trafford as a 16-year-old, but was deported after work-permit problems. Re-signed in 1999, he arrived late and overweight for his first training session. Fergie was away, but Roy Keane wasn't and sneered: 'Your first ****ing day at United and you turn up an hour late for ****ing training.' Bosnich's off-field behaviour hardly endeared him to the boss either, not least when arrested outside a strip bar at 4am on his wedding day. You can't buy class. You can, however, buy Taibi and Fabien Barthez, which Fergie duly did. 'Things didn't work out at United,' Bosnich admitted. Nor at Chelsea, to whom he was sold. In 2002 he failed a drug test and was banned for nine months.
3 Andy Goram When United come calling, you listen. Unless you're Goram. '**** off. I've got a pub to run and goats to feed!' was his response to Sir Alex's phone call in March 2001, presuming it was old Rangers pal Ally McCoist winding him up. Fergie had to ring back to convince him the offer was genuine. With Barthez and Raimond van der Gouw injured, and a transfer deadline looming, a short-term solution was required. He may have been at the top of his game for Scotland in Euro 96, but before he joined United he had just opened a bar, bought some livestock and had pretty much hung up his gloves. United paid Motherwell £100,000 to take him on a three-month loan. Daylight robbery.
4 Ricardo When the Reds signed Ricardo Lopez Felipe from Real Valladolid for £1.5m in August 2002, Barthez told L'Equipe that his chances of replacing him were negligible. Ricardo responded to Spanish paper As: 'He's just a regular goalkeeper. He's not God. He's only human and Alex Ferguson knows that.' The Spaniard made five appearances that season, including his debut against Blackburn when he conceded a penalty before he touched the ball. He also kept, or didn't keep, goal when United lost 3-0 to Maccabi Haifa in Cyprus, suffering Seaman-itis for the opener, which sailed over his head from 25 yards, then bringing down Raimondas Zutautas to concede a penalty for the third. Loaned to Racing Santander at the start of this season with a view to a permanent move, he is scarily now back training at Carrington.
5 Kevin Pilkington Given a nice relaxing 1995 Coca-Cola Cup tie against York City and with the experience of Parker, Irwin and Pallister to protect him, the callow Pilkington had the ideal opportunity to settle himself into the world's biggest club. Until the Second Division side pulled off a shock 3-0 victory. On New Year's Day 1996, Peter Schmeichel strained a muscle against Spurs and United went into the interval 2-1 down. With the Great Dane unable to continue, Pilkington came in, conceding within three minutes. United lost 4-1. The inevitable loan to Rochdale soon followed.
6 Fabien Barthez The World Cup-winning France goalkeeper was world class. But not necessarily for the Reds. Pure entertainment and pure United, Barthez was a crowd favourite and one of the few goalkeepers you would pay money to watch. Unfortunately, his eccentricity seemed to get in the way of consistency. His inclusion here was cemented by the double act he established with Wesley Brown to rival Laurel and Hardy, best illustrated in Deportivo's 3-2 win at Old Trafford in October 2001 when each left the ball for the other to gift the Spaniards what Marca 's headline declared as 'the most stupid goal of the Champions League'.
7 Paul Rachubka Born in America, schooled in Manchester and a product of the youth system. Two Reds were overheard at a United v City reserve game, declaring the teenage keeper would eventually be first choice for years to come. Fergie didn't quite agree. When Barthez injured himself warming up against Leicester in March 2001, Dwight Yorke was first to offer to play in goal and actually warmed up with the gloves on, but he failed to save a single shot. In his place, Rachubka had virtually nothing to do in a routine 2-0 victory, but never got a look in after that. Offloaded to Charlton in May 2002 for £200,000, he has since been loaned to Burnley, Huddersfield, Milton Keynes Dons and now Northampton.
8 Jim Leighton Still a cult hero at United, not least for his willingness to dive head first at the feet of onrushing strikers, and the resulting toothless grin. Leighton's treatment epitomises Fergie's ruthlessness when it comes to keepers. He won close to 100 caps for Scotland and enjoyed unparalleled success at Aberdeen with Fergie, who subsequently brought him to Old Trafford. When Ian Wright stuck two past him in the 1990 FA Cup final, however, he was unceremoniously dumped, to be replaced by Les Sealey, on loan from Luton, for the replay. Leighton's confidence never recovered.
9 Roy Carroll A Northern Ireland international, Carroll arrived from Wigan in July 2001, where he had been the rock on which the club had built a celebrated 26-game unbeaten run. Despite plenty of first-team appearances, he has never cemented his position in the team and is another who is prone to the odd heinous mishap, as happened against Charlton in 2003. Keane played the ball back to him on the edge of the area, but Carroll fluffed his clearance straight to Claus Jensen, who curled the ball from distance into the gaping empty net.
10 Tim Howard Still the favourite to make the No 1 jersey his own, even though Fergie's confidence in him has dipped after his tendency to spill shots was most cruelly exposed by Porto in last season's big Champions League game. Howard failed to hold Benni McCarthy's last-minute free-kick and Costinha bundled home the ball as it dropped in front of him. United were out, and Porto went on to win the cup. José Mourinho had planned it all, apparently.
Bit of an old article but it's always nice to take this piss out of the Scum.
1 Massimo Taibi The Don of Calamity's four appearances were so comical that Fergie wondered if 'Taibi' was Italian for 'nightmare'. Even his 1999 transfer from Venezia was fumbled, when an administrative delay meant he missed Champions League registration. Just as well, really. Taibi made his name against Southampton when Matt Le Tissier miscued a speculative shot so badly that he turned away in disgust. Taibi knelt to collect the daisycutter, but somehow let it slip between his gloves and legs. Like a good keeper, he had an excuse ready: 'I slipped as I went to pick the ball up. During the week I was asking for longer studs because the ones I have are too short.' Things got worse at Chelsea a week later. Taibi kept a clean sheet for all of 28 seconds, before rushing off his line to be easily beaten in the air by Gus Poyet. United lost 5-0. The BBC later alleged Jason Ferguson's company Elite was paid £50,000 to move him on. Money well spent.
2 Mark Bosnich The Australian first arrived at Old Trafford as a 16-year-old, but was deported after work-permit problems. Re-signed in 1999, he arrived late and overweight for his first training session. Fergie was away, but Roy Keane wasn't and sneered: 'Your first ****ing day at United and you turn up an hour late for ****ing training.' Bosnich's off-field behaviour hardly endeared him to the boss either, not least when arrested outside a strip bar at 4am on his wedding day. You can't buy class. You can, however, buy Taibi and Fabien Barthez, which Fergie duly did. 'Things didn't work out at United,' Bosnich admitted. Nor at Chelsea, to whom he was sold. In 2002 he failed a drug test and was banned for nine months.
3 Andy Goram When United come calling, you listen. Unless you're Goram. '**** off. I've got a pub to run and goats to feed!' was his response to Sir Alex's phone call in March 2001, presuming it was old Rangers pal Ally McCoist winding him up. Fergie had to ring back to convince him the offer was genuine. With Barthez and Raimond van der Gouw injured, and a transfer deadline looming, a short-term solution was required. He may have been at the top of his game for Scotland in Euro 96, but before he joined United he had just opened a bar, bought some livestock and had pretty much hung up his gloves. United paid Motherwell £100,000 to take him on a three-month loan. Daylight robbery.
4 Ricardo When the Reds signed Ricardo Lopez Felipe from Real Valladolid for £1.5m in August 2002, Barthez told L'Equipe that his chances of replacing him were negligible. Ricardo responded to Spanish paper As: 'He's just a regular goalkeeper. He's not God. He's only human and Alex Ferguson knows that.' The Spaniard made five appearances that season, including his debut against Blackburn when he conceded a penalty before he touched the ball. He also kept, or didn't keep, goal when United lost 3-0 to Maccabi Haifa in Cyprus, suffering Seaman-itis for the opener, which sailed over his head from 25 yards, then bringing down Raimondas Zutautas to concede a penalty for the third. Loaned to Racing Santander at the start of this season with a view to a permanent move, he is scarily now back training at Carrington.
5 Kevin Pilkington Given a nice relaxing 1995 Coca-Cola Cup tie against York City and with the experience of Parker, Irwin and Pallister to protect him, the callow Pilkington had the ideal opportunity to settle himself into the world's biggest club. Until the Second Division side pulled off a shock 3-0 victory. On New Year's Day 1996, Peter Schmeichel strained a muscle against Spurs and United went into the interval 2-1 down. With the Great Dane unable to continue, Pilkington came in, conceding within three minutes. United lost 4-1. The inevitable loan to Rochdale soon followed.
6 Fabien Barthez The World Cup-winning France goalkeeper was world class. But not necessarily for the Reds. Pure entertainment and pure United, Barthez was a crowd favourite and one of the few goalkeepers you would pay money to watch. Unfortunately, his eccentricity seemed to get in the way of consistency. His inclusion here was cemented by the double act he established with Wesley Brown to rival Laurel and Hardy, best illustrated in Deportivo's 3-2 win at Old Trafford in October 2001 when each left the ball for the other to gift the Spaniards what Marca 's headline declared as 'the most stupid goal of the Champions League'.
7 Paul Rachubka Born in America, schooled in Manchester and a product of the youth system. Two Reds were overheard at a United v City reserve game, declaring the teenage keeper would eventually be first choice for years to come. Fergie didn't quite agree. When Barthez injured himself warming up against Leicester in March 2001, Dwight Yorke was first to offer to play in goal and actually warmed up with the gloves on, but he failed to save a single shot. In his place, Rachubka had virtually nothing to do in a routine 2-0 victory, but never got a look in after that. Offloaded to Charlton in May 2002 for £200,000, he has since been loaned to Burnley, Huddersfield, Milton Keynes Dons and now Northampton.
8 Jim Leighton Still a cult hero at United, not least for his willingness to dive head first at the feet of onrushing strikers, and the resulting toothless grin. Leighton's treatment epitomises Fergie's ruthlessness when it comes to keepers. He won close to 100 caps for Scotland and enjoyed unparalleled success at Aberdeen with Fergie, who subsequently brought him to Old Trafford. When Ian Wright stuck two past him in the 1990 FA Cup final, however, he was unceremoniously dumped, to be replaced by Les Sealey, on loan from Luton, for the replay. Leighton's confidence never recovered.
9 Roy Carroll A Northern Ireland international, Carroll arrived from Wigan in July 2001, where he had been the rock on which the club had built a celebrated 26-game unbeaten run. Despite plenty of first-team appearances, he has never cemented his position in the team and is another who is prone to the odd heinous mishap, as happened against Charlton in 2003. Keane played the ball back to him on the edge of the area, but Carroll fluffed his clearance straight to Claus Jensen, who curled the ball from distance into the gaping empty net.
10 Tim Howard Still the favourite to make the No 1 jersey his own, even though Fergie's confidence in him has dipped after his tendency to spill shots was most cruelly exposed by Porto in last season's big Champions League game. Howard failed to hold Benni McCarthy's last-minute free-kick and Costinha bundled home the ball as it dropped in front of him. United were out, and Porto went on to win the cup. José Mourinho had planned it all, apparently.
Bit of an old article but it's always nice to take this piss out of the Scum.
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