http://www.observer.co.uk/sport/story/0,6903,710139,00.html

Sorry, can't be faffed with HTML - well worth reading, or you can wait for the Ronnie to rip it off.

-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002

Answers

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-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002

Oooh, now there`s a juicy article!! Very interesting to hear another side of the story. I have to admit I was never convinced by the "he doesn`t want to play" argument, it just never seemed plausible for a player of his age who had played at a very high level before we signed him. I just thought his problems were that he was crap and unlucky. Not too impressed with the comments made by their panellists - nobody seems to leave the door open for him to be rehabilitated which is madness. As for the lap of honour, well if he`s worked hard all season and played regularly for the reserves then of course he should have been out there with the rest of the squad.

-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002

Agreed with ADK, the fanzine panalist looks an idiot and Alan Oliver...well

Alway felt that we should make the most of a bad job, he should have been played to sell him last season. I remember Milan playing a plank of a centre forward just to put him in the shop window, Ch4's program said that they couldn't see anyone falling fo rht estunt, 2 weeks later Andreas Andersen was signed by one of the most inept managers since Bill McGarry

-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002

Just can't understand this story at all. The club would be crazy NOT to want to use an asset, either to play or to sell, Marcia would be crazy to be crying off for nothing when he is a proven talent.

It seems as if someone somewhere seems to bear a grudge, whether with just cause or not, I've no idea. But I'd like to see Marcellino in the frame again for us.

-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002

Looks like a complete man-management failure by someone. Several of you lot (is it OK to say that?) have spoken well of him in the Reserves. I know we are only getting one side of the story here but it does seem to reflect poorly on the club.

-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002

Not a mention of you lot's esteemed leader Filfy Fred. I know where I'd be looking for somebody who might bear a grudge.

It's been my opinion for yonks now that even just to get him in the shop window, he should have been playing some first team football.

And wouldn't it well and truly p1ss off his detracters if he came good and lived up to his price tag ?

We probably still wouldn't have the maturity to let bygones be bygones, and try to get as much of our money's worth from him as possible, in the time he has left on his contract.

If there's even a modicum of truth in the article, he deserves another chance, but he won't get it. We'll go out in the summer and fork out an arm and a leg and still not know whether or not whoever comes would have given us a second thought if it hadn't been for the Champs League.

That's the United I've come to know and love over the years.

-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002

agreed Jonno.... funny thing is Marci seems to have been snake bitten. He was along with YKD the "future" according to Gullit. YKD might have fallen into the same "hole" had he suffered the bad luck Marci has.

Then you have to ask whether it really has been bad luck or has it been bad advice and training. The rehab/training thing seems logical. For a club of our size and stature NOT to have the BEST training facilities in the country is pathetic. That horse has been beaten enough on this BBS.

Marci seems honest enough in the idea that he probably has tried to come back from injuries too soon. We only need look at Carl and Keiron this season to verify this idea...they have been plagued by really bad injuries that have only been compounded by the lack of proper rehab. Futher to that Cort's fitness has been a major question since his return.

If Marci's ready, and by reading accounts of his exploits in the reserves, I'd give him the shot at making the first team next season. Reallistically he couldn't make our situation any worse at CH. He just might save us £10m in the search for a quality CH!!! That money could go to giving us that "holder" in midfield we desparately need.

-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002

IMHO I think it's a load of old crap. The article says nothing really. A few quotes that he feels he has had a raw deal. Maybe he has. I think it's been a combination of a run of unlucky injuries, his less than 110% committment to the cause and I expect Bobby just got exasperated with him and the situation in the end. Much like he did with Ferguson.

Bobby appears to give players a fair amount of time to prove themselves. Marcelino, in the article says that Bobby had no time for the foreigners and mentions Domi, Goma and Maric. All of these 3 had their problems with committment and attitude. Bobby doesn't have a problem with foreigners - did he have a problem with NTG? With Nobby? No.

No disrespect to anyone on here but I can't agree fully with the argument that somehow NUFC always makes an injury situation worse, or that somehow our medical set up is at fault. I don't think we differ that much from many clubs who over use their players, especially when we've a small squad. Not good practice but it happens at many clubs.

Overall, I'm pleased for Marcelino to have his say for what it was worth but I doubt there is some sort of conspiracy going on. Just didn't work out for him.

-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002

My first reaction was simlar to Jonno's - it's not in the club's interest to run down a valuable asset. I also don't think it's in BR's nature to nurture an English hardcore and make the foreigners feel peripheral, his managerial record makes it obvious he's no xenephobe and aside from anything else his approach to Robert - 'my biggest challenge since Romario' - implies that even when confronted with a 'difficult' player he'll try and find the key to getting the best out of them rather than give them up as a bad job.

On the other hand, I'm inclined, being the good-natured naif that I am, to believe that Marcelino isn't just lying through his teeth. I find it quite believeable that he has been very unfortunate and he's been very easy to caricature. My feeling is that perhaps his nature is to overreact to fair criticism, with consequent unfair criticism just adding fuel to his self-pitying fire.

I wondered if he might game against Soton - seems a wee bit less likely after this.

-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002

The truth is out there. Marcia is turning into the Toon's own X- file. ;-)

It is interesting to hear his perspective, and I'd be happy to eat all my critical words of him if he is given the chance to prove his detractors wrong. I still wonder if perhaps his real commitment to the cause might not live up to his words, which would explain the club's frustration with him. On the other hand, it also seems plausible that there is a bit of a grudge being held by someone, else why have we not cut our losses and sold him? Surely he'd be easier to shift than Maric!

I suspect we'll probably never know what's really happened in this saga, but only hope that we now either play him or sell him(and for less than 4mil, as nobody is going to pay that for a player who's not played in over a year!). Keeping him for the reserves is beyond a farce at this point. It's not fair to the player, the club, or the supporters.

-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002

It's quite fun to make a timeline of the bits covered by excuses and the whopping great 8-month stretches with none. The reason that NUFC have chosen not to comment is not through tacit approval but probably through gratitude since this sort of remark has an outside chance of bringing in an offer whilst accepting the crappy little offers of the likes Celta Vigo put in would have set a dangerous precedent. Question: has any other player tried sand-bagging to get a transfer since Marcy got dropped down the black hole of Calcutta?

-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002

There's always at least 100 sides to any player's story. I don't believe Robson's made any efforts to oust foreign players, in fact (well, 'in guess' anyway) he's tried or succeeded to sign a lot of non-UK players.

TBH I don't think he'll ever play in black and white again. I never really felt he was worthy of a place in our team.

-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002

As ever, the truth will lie somewhere between all the various sides of all the stories. In reality it doesn't matter - the situation is a bloody mess that all sides have contributed to, and the sooner it is sorted out the better with the player moving on.

I for one don't agree with playing him to "put him in the shop window". He should be sold now and not brought back for another season of humiliation - for both him and the Club who spent so much money on him in the first place. No one comes out of this sorry mess with any credit.

-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002