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Panic Stations?

I have been trawling a few fans messages boards this morning, basically because I'm too lazy to get my own stories, and there seems to be a few fans getting quite unsettled that Rangers have plummeted out of Europe (Oh ma sides!!).

No, not because they secretly like the Forces of Darkness and wanted them to do well but because it may now be time to raid United for a few of our players.

As you may be aware, Rangers have recently been linked with Wilkie, Gomis and Bauben. Some feel that, with the loss of circa £10m revenue from missing out on the Champions League, after their 2-1 (agg) defeat from Kaunas, that the club will have massively reduced spending and may target players from other SPL clubs.

But to be honest, I think most of their summer spending will have been done on the basis of actually receiving that £10m, leaving them with pretty much zilch to spend.

And I don't really think we will, unless we get offered completely bonkers money, which I don't think they can really justify spending, accept any sort of bid for any three of the above mentioned players.

And, not to be offensive towards United players, but Rangers fans will no doubt want big names to appease them. I don't think United players, or any other SPL player for that matter, would go far enough to pacify them.

My main concern is that Walter Smith gets the boot and they make moves for Craig Levein...

Your thoughts?

Levein Fined By SFA

The Verdict is in and The Gaffer has been fined for his outburst at Mike McCurry.

The SFA have handed him a £5000 fine.

Levein is still yet to decide whether he will appeal the fine however, after the hearing he was in no mood for apologies.

"I said what I honestly felt at the time," he said. "It was a poor performance and I'm still angry about it.

"I wasn't going to go in and apologise for anything I said."

Can't say I'm surprised to be honest. Hopefully he will appeal and not backdown.

The Season is Forthcoming - Prediction Time.

It is less than a week until the season starts. At 12:30 on Saturday Falkirk and Rangers will kick off the 08/09 SPL Season (Assuming those pesky referees sort out their differing view points on pay with the SPL).

So what does the season hold in store for the football fans country wide?

Dundee United
Purely selfish, a whole section on United.

How will we do?

Rather well actually! In all seriousness, I think we have got to look for some sort of improvement on last season without getting too carried away, as this has happened many a time before and always ends up in disappointment.

We have done a fair bit of wheeling and dealing and brought in some good players. Sandaza has looked good and just needs match fitness, Feeney looks like and handful and, in my view, we have made our most important signing in getting Willo Flood back for the next year.

A big bonus for me is what looks like the return of Prince Bauben. If stories were to be believed, the Ghanian had played his last match for us. Now thought the outlook is different. He has looked back to his best in pre-season and I can't wait for him to resume his partnership with Gomis in the midfield.

Finishing spot?

I take us for fourth with a good cup run thrown in.

First for the boot?

Who will be the first Managerial casualty?

Over at Easter Road Mixu isn't looking too clever is he? It been a rough pre-season for the big Finn and there has been a surprising lack of goals and signings. Couple this with reports that he wants rid of 9 players and has stated he won't be replacing them, the axe may fall early in the season. In saying that, you don't want to peak in your pre-season fixtures and maybe they will the ground running come the start of the season.

A close second for the punt has to be Jim Jefferies. I can't see Killie doing too much this season. Again there has been a lack of signings, mostly due to lack of funds, couple this with new signing Russell picking up an injury pre-season, I see a tough time ahead for Killie and it may end up that the club will cut their losses and punt the big man.

Relegation

Who is facing the drop?

Many people will fancy Hamilton for the drop but I think Billy Reid will get them off to a decent start. They will be fired up and looking to prove a point and a good start could well see them stay up.

Prime candidates for me are Killie (see above), St. Mirren. St Mirren just don't seem to have added enough quality and this could well catch up with them.

Champs

Who will take the crown?

If I'm honest I can see past Celtic. Fair enough they maybe haven't added as much as Rangers but I think they will still be good enough.

I can't say I have been to impressed with Wattie's signings but hey, he might prove me wrong.

What do you think? Am I way off the mark?

Let me know your predictions for the season ahead

Levein before the dock.

So, today The Gaffer faces the SFA over the McCurry row after last season 3-1 defeat to Rangers at Ibrox.

The SFA are to question Levein over his post match outburst, in which he slated the ref over 2 incidents, one a blatant penalty, the other a blatant goal, in which McCurry decided to give against United (OK, lets face it he cheated *libel/slander alert*).

Levein stated after the match, live on BBC Radio Scotland and Setanta Sports that United may as well have not bothered turning up. He claimed there is no level playing field in the SPL when it comes to the Old Firm and that McCurry bottled it when it came to giving big decisions againt Rangers.

Any fair minded football fan without a royal blue tinted specs on can see he is right.

So, lets hope Craig stands up to the corrupt governing body that is the SFA.

And as a follow on to this, I find it rather amusing to find that the referees up here are threating a strike which could delay the start of the SPL season.

40% increase eh? And what exactly do any of these referees feel they have done to deserve such an increase? Maybe if they could make fair decisions during games rather than pandering under pressure it would be worth it.

Until the referees in Scotland buck up their ideas, we should be telling them to swivel for an increase.

Bring in foreign refs. At least we may get some impartial decision making.

The Legend

Paul Sturrock is a legend. End of.



Here it is from a different angle.

All the best Luggy!

P.S been a busy weekend for me, feels like the blog has been neglected a little.

I will have a Plymouth match report up later this evening.

Old Firm GTF!

Stop the Old Firm bully tactics!

By now you will all have seen the news. The Old Firm are at it again, trying to scam the other 10 SPL teams out of money, for the "joy" of the bigoted, sectarian bile spewing, knuckle dragging "fans" visiting our Stadiums.

At first we stood against it. Now, rightly or wrongly, the Dundee United board have decided to give in to Celtic's demands and pay the 5% handling charge.

Are the board right? For the good of the club financially, probably yes. We can ill afford to lose out on circa £100k from the west coast scum, per game.

But morally, we are wrong. This could open the flood gates. What if Aberdeen sell out and then want 5%? Hearts? Hibs?

And what if next year, the Bigot Brothers want 7.5%? Then 10% the following year. Where will it stop?

The board have stated that paying the fee this time does not necessarily mean we will do so for every game against the Old Firm.

I sincerely hope we don't.

The link at the top is a petition against the Old Firms actions. Will it help? Mibbes aye, Mibbes naw, but please sign it.

One Outraged Arab.

United News

Not much doing really.

Most of you will by now have seen that the Gaffer has state he will not be making another move for Rangers striker Alan Gow.

Levein state that he was at one time interested however, any move is now not going to happen. The players wages have been sighted as a stumbling block.

Spanish trialist Pablo Carrascosa has now returned to Spain. This does not mean a move for the player is off. United are now trying to acertain if the player is a free agent.

Craig Levein is taking his side down South this week for the final pre season game against Plymouth. The Gaffer has stated that the side that starts the game will be very close to the side that will start the first game of the season against Hamilton.

And finally, there appears to be some rumours going about that the forces of evil at Castle Greyskull (Rangers) are about to launch a bid for Gomis and the Prince.

Bull methinks. If not, tell them to shove it along with the 5% handling fee!

Any thoughts on these stories, feel free to comment.

A trip down memory lane.

Ok, a blog here that will hopefully get you readers involved.

I want to hear about your Dundee United Memories. It could be a memory of game, a fantastic win, a great day out/Euro trip or some not so good such as bad defeats, missing big occasions.

Basically any United memory you want.

Mine would have to be 1994, the Scottish Cup win. Sadly I was born too late to see the glory days so this is the best memory that sticks with me.

I suppose I didn't understand so much at the why people around me at Hampden were bricking it when Brewster put that goal in, my old man just kept saying he had seen it all before.

When the final whistle went though, that was a noise like I have never heard before. Mostly relief I think!

And too see Mo lift the cup... Class!

Great day out that was.

I still get the old goosebumps watching the video.

So chaps, what are your United memories?

I look forward to your comments.

The Arab Blog Mobile

The Arab Blog has gone mobile. You will notice a Mobile badge on the sidebar. You can now access the blog on the go.

The page can be view basic or in full HTML view on mobile internet.

The address you will need to input into your mobile phone browser is http://thearabblog.mofuse.mobi/. This, and the Mobile badge, if clicked on via your PC, will take you to the simulation page on which you can see previews on both normal phones and iPhones. You can also view normal and full HTML versions to see how it looks on your phone.

I have tried and test on a normal phone (I'm not cool enough for an iPhone) and it is working well.

So try it out, and enjoy The Arab Blog on the go.

Luggy

Paul Sturrock has today announced that he is suffering from Parkinsons Disease.

Our former player and gaffer was diagnosed with a mild form of the disease 8 years ago, but has chosen to tell the world now, ahead of the new season.

Sturrock has said "I don't want sympathy, I don't want people feeling sorry for me - I just thought this was the right time to bring things into the open. It doesn't really affect me, unless I forget to take a tablet - and then I just get a few tremors in my hand or my leg."

He also comment on how he has started to get "flicking foot" and that "people were putting two and two together."

Parkinson's is a disorder of the central nervous system that impairs motor skills and speech.

Symptoms include repetitive shaking, slowness of movement and muscle stiffness.

I wish Luggy all the best, and hope that this does not effect his work, and more importantly his life too much.

Arabest Luggy.

Dundee United V Barcelona Pics

As promised, pictures of the Barca game. These ones are better quality.

Enjoy.

Its all over.

So much for no push overs eh?! Well its over and we were defeated 5-1. Messi got a marvelous hat trick. Barca were class. We put up a good effort. Well done to barca. Look out for a match report and and more pics tomorrow.

2nd half...

Now down 3-1 and to be honest we have fizzled out. Not the same amount of urgency from the lads. Messi has been a class act and scored a wonderful goal. The 3rd goal came from eto'o. Still time left...

Half time...

And its 1-1. Good effort from the lads so far. Bauben has been excellent so far, Feeney looks like a hand full so. Second half is about to start and barca are about to bring on Messi. Game on!

It was 1

And then it was 1-1. As quick as Bauben put it in the back of the net Titi clawed barca back into it. So its one all.

Live from Tannadice

So it s a live blog from the game and, with 20 mins gone, we are looking good. Neither team has created much yet but so far its been a good effort from the boys.

Today is the day!

Yup, we take on Barca.

After the demolition of Hibs on Thursday the Catalan Club are sure to be in a confident mood, but I can guarantee we won't be no push overs.

Can't wait.

I will have pics of the game posted (gonna try this from during the game from Tannadice, mobile technology eh?!) but, judging by my Barca training pics, they wont be great (one of the downfalls of mobile technology).

So enjoy chaps, lets hope for a good game, some amazing skill (Darren Dods is amazing with the ball at his feet!) and hopefully a sneaky wee win! (too far?)

I will have a match report, maybe tonight if i'm not too far gone, or tomorrow.

Bring them on!

Transfer Talk

So apparently a bid of around £60k has gone in for Jim O'Brien of Celtic. The out of contract player has been on trial with Motherwell recently but it is thought that gaffer Craig Levein is keen to bring the young winger back to Tannadice, where he spent the second half of last season on loan.

I'm never one to question the judgement of Levein, but I would be leaving this one well alone. From what I seen of him last season, he offered us little. I'm sure other United fans share this view.

To our next target, it is rumoured that we have rekindled our interest in Ranger Forward Alan Gow. Rangers have told the forward, who has made a massive 2 appearance since signing last year, that he can move for free should he find a suitable club.

The club are also set to pay off his contract in full, meaning Gow would be more willing to take a wage cut. United face competition from Hearts for his signature.

If either of these rumours/stories are true, my choice would be Gow. But hey, we might end up with both!

Barca Training.

As promised, I have pics from last nights Barcelona training session in St. Andrews.

Note that the pictures are not of the best quality as I couldn't get close enough (standing on the street behind a fence), and I couldn't blag my way in as a Uni student.

Other that that, it was rather entertaining. Watching them doing their drills (or plays) from the centre of the pitch, out to the wings then into the box was pretty awesome. They spent a good half hour on this with many variations, it's really no wonder they have the ability to cut teams up.

They then went on to play a match, as most teams do in training, and it was good to see some of the skills on show.

I have seen Messi many-a-time on the TV, but never had the joy of seeing him up close. Quite simply, awesome.

So it was good to see, whets the appetite for Saturday.

Also spotted at the training session was former United winger Steven Robb. Don't panic though, he has not managed to wangle himself a deal with the Catalan giants, he was merely a spectator with his kid.

And finally, at the time of writing, Barca are currently destroying Hibs 4-0. Gudjohnsen 2, Messi and Pedinho (I think) have scored, all within the first 25 minutes. It could have been more, Barca are just waltzing through the Hibs defence and midfield.

They won't get it that easy against us, that's for sure.