Friday, November 14, 2008

50 highs 'n lows for Fergie

ALEX FERGUSON was quite literally bitten by the football bug 50 years ago tomorrow.

As a 16-year-old he began his remarkable journey in the game by making his debut for Queen’s Park against Stranraer.

  •  Fergie makes Queens Park debut v Stranraer, Nov 15, 1958.

  •  Joins Rangers in 1967.

  •  Sold by Rangers to Falkirk after being blamed for a goal conceded in 1969 Scottish Cup final.

  •  Wins Scottish Division One title as St Mirren boss in 1977.

  •  Takes 1980 Scottish Premier Division crown with Aberdeen.

  •  Dons finish second in ’81.

  •  Aberdeen are runners-up again in ’82 but win Scottish Cup.

  •  They retain Scottish Cup in ’83 and have stunning victory over Real Madrid in Cup Winners’ Cup final.

  •  League and cup double in ’84.

  •  Retains Scottish League in ’85 and wins Cup double the next year.

  •  Part of Scotland coaching staff when boss Jock Stein has heart attack on touchline and later dies.

  •  Takes charge of Scotland for ’86 World Cup but KO’d in first round.

  •  Appointed Man Utd manager in Nov ’86 after Ron Atkinson axed.

  •  Admits appointment is greatest thing to happen to him in football.

  •  Runner-up in the ’87-88 Div One table behind Liverpool.

  •  United finish a miserable 11th in the league in ’88-89.

  •  Mark Robins saves Fergie’s job with FA Cup third-round winner at Forest in Jan ’90.

  •  United go on to lift FA Cup with replay win over Crystal Palace.

  •  Fergie’s men beat Barcelona in ’91 Cup Winners’ Cup final.

  •  Title slips through his fingers in ’91-92 as defeats to West Ham and Liverpool let Leeds finish top.

  •  Signs Eric Cantona from Leeds in Nov ’92, the catalyst for glory.

  •  Fergie wins his first league championship at United in opening Premiership season of ’92-93.

  •  Inspired by meeting with Nelson Mandela on South Africa tour in summer ’93.

  •  United claim their first Double under Ferguson in ’94.

  •  Cantona lands nine-month ban for kung-fu kick on fan Adam Simmons at Palace in Jan ’95.

  •  Fergie rides on back of motorbike through Paris to try to find Cantona after star’s suspension.

  •  Loses title to Blackburn on final day of ’94-95 season.

  •  United also lose ’95 FA Cup final to Joe Royle’s Everton.

  •  Fergie receives CBE in ’95 from Prince of Wales.

  •  He reduces Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan to ‘I’d love it’ wreck as United start to reel in runaway Geordies in ’95-96 season.

  •  United snatch title from Toon.

  •  Fergie wins title again in ’97.

  •  Devastated by Champions League semi-final defeat to Borussia Dortmund in April ’97.

  •  Blows a big lead to hand Arsene Wenger his first Arsenal title in ’98.

  •  Hits back with magnificent Treble of Premiership, FA Cup and Champions League in ’99.

  •  Miracle of the Nou Camp as late goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Solskjaer sink Bayern Munich in Champions League final.

  •  Knighted by the Queen, June ’99.

  •  Tries to throw SunSport’s Neil Custis out of Press room for a story Shaun Custis has written.

  •  Complains of too many people called Custis.

  •  Announces at start of 2001-02 season he will retire at the end of the campaign.

  •  Reverses his decision in Feb ’02, but United lose the league.

  •  Hits David Beckham in the face as he kicks boot in a rage after ’03 FA Cup fifth-round defeat by Arsenal.

  •  Sells Becks to Real Madrid.

  •  Falls out with captain Roy Keane, who quits United in Nov ’05.

  •  Drops Ruud van Nistelrooy for ’06 League Cup final and later offloads striker to Real Madrid.

  •  Goes three seasons from ’02-03 to ’06-07 without a title as fans start to question his position with Chelsea beginning to dominate.

  •  Defies everyone as rebuilt United team win back-to-back Prem crowns in ’07 and ’08.

  •  Wins last season’s Champions League on 50th anniversary of Munich air disaster, defeating Chelsea on penalties in Moscow.

  •  Wins battle to keep Cristiano Ronaldo this summer after Real Madrid try to unsettle the winger.

  •  Fifty years after Fergie’s debut for Queens Park, faces Queens Park Rangers in Carling Cup this week.

  • Interesting fact about spammers...


    Spammers are turning a profit despite only getting one response for every 12.5m e-mails they send, finds a study.

    By hijacking a working spam network, US researchers have uncovered some of the economics of being a junk mailer.

    The numbers are interesting:

    “After 26 days, and almost 350 million e-mail messages, only 28 sales resulted,” wrote the researchers.

    The response rate for this campaign was less than 0.00001%. This is far below the average of 2.15% reported by legitimate direct mail organisations.

    “Taken together, these conversions would have resulted in revenues of $2,731.88—a bit over $100 a day for the measurement period,” said the researchers.


    source>

    Thursday, November 13, 2008

    Lovely 'green' site...


    This site is so well designed that it feels comfortable just by looking at it... :)