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During his time as France's no.1 (or no.16 by his squad number) in-between the sticks, Henry, Fabien Barthez, (along with Zidane, Henry, and the rest) has helped take his country to the top while collecting both the World Cup in 1998, and more recently, the European Cup in 2000, along the way. And that's just at International level!
He helped make the unthinkable an experience for both Marseille and Monaco during his early days in his home country, while more recently at Old Trafford, he has helped Manchester United on towards yet another Premiership title, with some 'impressive' form to say the least regarding his sides performances in the Champions' League.
If this doesn't tell you anything about the 'Fabien Barthez-effect' during the 'post-Schmeichel' era, then nothing will.
While much of his 'glory days' may now be lost in the past, following his own blunders during the last Premiership season and the one before, along with the shock French exit from the summer's World Cup, Fabien Barthez has fallen under knife on one-too-many occasions for the likings of many football fans worldwide.
This season, as United fans our expectations appear to be going sky-high after the £30m capture of Rio Ferdinand who will apparently fill all the holes at the back at the instant touch of a button - somehow. With a sharper back 4, Barthez would be under less pressure, and he may also be able to re-capture his form of years gone-by.
But despite all this there are still a large majority of football fans out there who are still unhappy with the Fab Man.
It seems that he has had simply one bad day too-many, and that all succesfull achievements of the past are now purely irrelevant as we need someone reliable, after a season of huge dissapointment when so many high-hopes from the £50m summer spending-spree were shattered.
While the balding Frenchman is currently out with an injury leaving Roy Carroll with the responsabillity and pressures of having to deny Henry and Owen and co. the chance of celebrations, a lot of speculation has been flying-around all-over the place linking United with a number of new signings - goalkeepers rather than new strikers.
This could mean we are edging closer to the time when Barthez will say "Au revoir" to Old Trafford and his good friends there, including Laurent Blanc. But to me, this has all come from nowhere really. It's something all those ungratefull United fans (including Keano's prawn sandwhich eaters) have cooked-up out of nothing really, in hope that that 'Barthez the Clown' will be sold to make way for someone like Rustu of Turkey, Uruguay's Carini, or even Spain's Ricardo.
What I don't understand is why on Earth other United fans (just like myself) would be so happy to see a World Cup Winner who has seen and played it all while entertaining the crowd with his fancy-footwork, just pack his bags and be gone just like that - never to be seen again!??
After all, there's nothing wrong with having a World Cup Winning goalkeeper in your side.... you could have David James! How could that be any better!!?
Not only will he be able to keep up with the pace in the biggest of games, on the biggest of occasions, but his experience from the big competitions will prove to be vital for the development of young hopefulls still at the club like Ben Williams, and i'm sure that Nicky Culkin and Paul Rachubka have learnt a good thing or two from him before they left too. Who knows, he may have shown Keeper Coach Tony Coton a thing or two about defending your goal also, after the number of times we've seen him deny all the big names while keeping his cool infront of the attack (and throught their legs!).
The fact is, plain and simple, that Fabien Barthez is and always will be one of those players with values and offers to his employers that cannot under any circumstances be taken for granted in any way.
Sell him now, and we'll surely end the season empty-handed yet again.
Sure, Carroll may be doing a fine job now... but with the European Transfer Deadline less-than 2 days away and player without any REAL experience at the biggest of stages (unlike Barthez) in goal, it could all go Highbury-way again this season.
Have faith in the Fab Man, negative comments are only gunna make him feel ten times worse, where he'll be letting balls through his legs quicker than Massimo Taibi and Paul Jones in one goal together!!
Give him a little bit more time and he'll soon be back on his feet. He's injured at the moment anyway - how can you bad-mouth him when you haven't even seen him play since JUNE!?? All players go throught bad patches in their careers - i've gone over this before. Golakeepers seem to get it more often that players in other positions - possibly due to all that pressure. Fabien just seems to have more bad luck than others, and i've only ever seen him loose control once, during the League game at Highbury last season when Henry ran-away with all-3 points.
Like all you un-gratedull Glory Hunters have been saying for the last few weeks, Rio Ferdinand WILL solve all our problems at the back.
And with a securer backline, Barthez will have less to do and worry about as he will feel a lot better knowing that he can rely on those 4 players (and Roy Keane) all lined-up ahead of him. Pressure gone!
But if you want to see yet another World Class player leave a World Class club just like Stam did last season, then by all means - keep on moaning!
Be ready to expect Stam-less-like effects on the team come May next year!
Bascially, what I am trying to say here is that there is nothing wrong here with 'the man' that is Fabien Barthez. And Fergie knows that - thank god!
He helped make the unthinkable an experience for both Marseille and Monaco during his early days in his home country, while more recently at Old Trafford, he has helped Manchester United on towards yet another Premiership title, with some 'impressive' form to say the least regarding his sides performances in the Champions' League.
If this doesn't tell you anything about the 'Fabien Barthez-effect' during the 'post-Schmeichel' era, then nothing will.
While much of his 'glory days' may now be lost in the past, following his own blunders during the last Premiership season and the one before, along with the shock French exit from the summer's World Cup, Fabien Barthez has fallen under knife on one-too-many occasions for the likings of many football fans worldwide.
This season, as United fans our expectations appear to be going sky-high after the £30m capture of Rio Ferdinand who will apparently fill all the holes at the back at the instant touch of a button - somehow. With a sharper back 4, Barthez would be under less pressure, and he may also be able to re-capture his form of years gone-by.
But despite all this there are still a large majority of football fans out there who are still unhappy with the Fab Man.
It seems that he has had simply one bad day too-many, and that all succesfull achievements of the past are now purely irrelevant as we need someone reliable, after a season of huge dissapointment when so many high-hopes from the £50m summer spending-spree were shattered.
While the balding Frenchman is currently out with an injury leaving Roy Carroll with the responsabillity and pressures of having to deny Henry and Owen and co. the chance of celebrations, a lot of speculation has been flying-around all-over the place linking United with a number of new signings - goalkeepers rather than new strikers.
This could mean we are edging closer to the time when Barthez will say "Au revoir" to Old Trafford and his good friends there, including Laurent Blanc. But to me, this has all come from nowhere really. It's something all those ungratefull United fans (including Keano's prawn sandwhich eaters) have cooked-up out of nothing really, in hope that that 'Barthez the Clown' will be sold to make way for someone like Rustu of Turkey, Uruguay's Carini, or even Spain's Ricardo.
What I don't understand is why on Earth other United fans (just like myself) would be so happy to see a World Cup Winner who has seen and played it all while entertaining the crowd with his fancy-footwork, just pack his bags and be gone just like that - never to be seen again!??
After all, there's nothing wrong with having a World Cup Winning goalkeeper in your side.... you could have David James! How could that be any better!!?
Not only will he be able to keep up with the pace in the biggest of games, on the biggest of occasions, but his experience from the big competitions will prove to be vital for the development of young hopefulls still at the club like Ben Williams, and i'm sure that Nicky Culkin and Paul Rachubka have learnt a good thing or two from him before they left too. Who knows, he may have shown Keeper Coach Tony Coton a thing or two about defending your goal also, after the number of times we've seen him deny all the big names while keeping his cool infront of the attack (and throught their legs!).
The fact is, plain and simple, that Fabien Barthez is and always will be one of those players with values and offers to his employers that cannot under any circumstances be taken for granted in any way.
Sell him now, and we'll surely end the season empty-handed yet again.
Sure, Carroll may be doing a fine job now... but with the European Transfer Deadline less-than 2 days away and player without any REAL experience at the biggest of stages (unlike Barthez) in goal, it could all go Highbury-way again this season.
Have faith in the Fab Man, negative comments are only gunna make him feel ten times worse, where he'll be letting balls through his legs quicker than Massimo Taibi and Paul Jones in one goal together!!
Give him a little bit more time and he'll soon be back on his feet. He's injured at the moment anyway - how can you bad-mouth him when you haven't even seen him play since JUNE!?? All players go throught bad patches in their careers - i've gone over this before. Golakeepers seem to get it more often that players in other positions - possibly due to all that pressure. Fabien just seems to have more bad luck than others, and i've only ever seen him loose control once, during the League game at Highbury last season when Henry ran-away with all-3 points.
Like all you un-gratedull Glory Hunters have been saying for the last few weeks, Rio Ferdinand WILL solve all our problems at the back.
And with a securer backline, Barthez will have less to do and worry about as he will feel a lot better knowing that he can rely on those 4 players (and Roy Keane) all lined-up ahead of him. Pressure gone!
But if you want to see yet another World Class player leave a World Class club just like Stam did last season, then by all means - keep on moaning!
Be ready to expect Stam-less-like effects on the team come May next year!
Bascially, what I am trying to say here is that there is nothing wrong here with 'the man' that is Fabien Barthez. And Fergie knows that - thank god!
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During his time as France's no.1 (or no.16 by his squad number) in-between the sticks, Henry, Fabien Barthez, (along with Zidane, Henry, and the rest) has helped take his country to the top while collecting both the World Cup in 1998, and more recently, the European Cup in 2000, along the way. And that's just at International level!
He helped make the unthinkable an experience for both Marseille and Monaco during his early days in his home country, while more recently at Old Trafford, he has helped Manchester United on towards yet another Premiership title, with some 'impressive' form to say the least regarding his sides performances in the Champions' League.
If this doesn't tell you anything about the 'Fabien Barthez-effect' during the 'post-Schmeichel' era, then nothing will.
While much of his 'glory days' may now be lost in the past, following his own blunders during the last Premiership season and the one before, along with the shock French exit from the summer's World Cup, Fabien Barthez has fallen under knife on one-too-many occasions for the likings of many football fans worldwide.
This season, as United fans our expectations appear to be going sky-high after the £30m capture of Rio Ferdinand who will apparently fill all the holes at the back at the instant touch of a button - somehow. With a sharper back 4, Barthez would be under less pressure, and he may also be able to re-capture his form of years gone-by.
But despite all this there are still a large majority of football fans out there who are still unhappy with the Fab Man.
It seems that he has had simply one bad day too-many, and that all succesfull achievements of the past are now purely irrelevant as we need someone reliable, after a season of huge dissapointment when so many high-hopes from the £50m summer spending-spree were shattered.
While the balding Frenchman is currently out with an injury leaving Roy Carroll with the responsabillity and pressures of having to deny Henry and Owen and co. the chance of celebrations, a lot of speculation has been flying-around all-over the place linking United with a number of new signings - goalkeepers rather than new strikers.
This could mean we are edging closer to the time when Barthez will say "Au revoir" to Old Trafford and his good friends there, including Laurent Blanc. But to me, this has all come from nowhere really. It's something all those ungratefull United fans (including Keano's prawn sandwhich eaters) have cooked-up out of nothing really, in hope that that 'Barthez the Clown' will be sold to make way for someone like Rustu of Turkey, Uruguay's Carini, or even Spain's Ricardo.
What I don't understand is why on Earth other United fans (just like myself) would be so happy to see a World Cup Winner who has seen and played it all while entertaining the crowd with his fancy-footwork, just pack his bags and be gone just like that - never to be seen again!??
After all, there's nothing wrong with having a World Cup Winning goalkeeper in your side.... you could have David James! How could that be any better!!?
Not only will he be able to keep up with the pace in the biggest of games, on the biggest of occasions, but his experience from the big competitions will prove to be vital for the development of young hopefulls still at the club like Ben Williams, and i'm sure that Nicky Culkin and Paul Rachubka have learnt a good thing or two from him before they left too. Who knows, he may have shown Keeper Coach Tony Coton a thing or two about defending your goal also, after the number of times we've seen him deny all the big names while keeping his cool infront of the attack (and throught their legs!).
The fact is, plain and simple, that Fabien Barthez is and always will be one of those players with values and offers to his employers that cannot under any circumstances be taken for granted in any way.
Sell him now, and we'll surely end the season empty-handed yet again.
Sure, Carroll may be doing a fine job now... but with the European Transfer Deadline less-than 2 days away and player without any REAL experience at the biggest of stages (unlike Barthez) in goal, it could all go Highbury-way again this season.
Have faith in the Fab Man, negative comments are only gunna make him feel ten times worse, where he'll be letting balls through his legs quicker than Massimo Taibi and Paul Jones in one goal together!!
Give him a little bit more time and he'll soon be back on his feet. He's injured at the moment anyway - how can you bad-mouth him when you haven't even seen him play since JUNE!?? All players go throught bad patches in their careers - i've gone over this before. Golakeepers seem to get it more often that players in other positions - possibly due to all that pressure. Fabien just seems to have more bad luck than others, and i've only ever seen him loose control once, during the League game at Highbury last season when Henry ran-away with all-3 points.
Like all you un-gratedull Glory Hunters have been saying for the last few weeks, Rio Ferdinand WILL solve all our problems at the back.
And with a securer backline, Barthez will have less to do and worry about as he will feel a lot better knowing that he can rely on those 4 players (and Roy Keane) all lined-up ahead of him. Pressure gone!
But if you want to see yet another World Class player leave a World Class club just like Stam did last season, then by all means - keep on moaning!
Be ready to expect Stam-less-like effects on the team come May next year!
Bascially, what I am trying to say here is that there is nothing wrong here with 'the man' that is Fabien Barthez. And Fergie knows that - thank god!
He helped make the unthinkable an experience for both Marseille and Monaco during his early days in his home country, while more recently at Old Trafford, he has helped Manchester United on towards yet another Premiership title, with some 'impressive' form to say the least regarding his sides performances in the Champions' League.
If this doesn't tell you anything about the 'Fabien Barthez-effect' during the 'post-Schmeichel' era, then nothing will.
While much of his 'glory days' may now be lost in the past, following his own blunders during the last Premiership season and the one before, along with the shock French exit from the summer's World Cup, Fabien Barthez has fallen under knife on one-too-many occasions for the likings of many football fans worldwide.
This season, as United fans our expectations appear to be going sky-high after the £30m capture of Rio Ferdinand who will apparently fill all the holes at the back at the instant touch of a button - somehow. With a sharper back 4, Barthez would be under less pressure, and he may also be able to re-capture his form of years gone-by.
But despite all this there are still a large majority of football fans out there who are still unhappy with the Fab Man.
It seems that he has had simply one bad day too-many, and that all succesfull achievements of the past are now purely irrelevant as we need someone reliable, after a season of huge dissapointment when so many high-hopes from the £50m summer spending-spree were shattered.
While the balding Frenchman is currently out with an injury leaving Roy Carroll with the responsabillity and pressures of having to deny Henry and Owen and co. the chance of celebrations, a lot of speculation has been flying-around all-over the place linking United with a number of new signings - goalkeepers rather than new strikers.
This could mean we are edging closer to the time when Barthez will say "Au revoir" to Old Trafford and his good friends there, including Laurent Blanc. But to me, this has all come from nowhere really. It's something all those ungratefull United fans (including Keano's prawn sandwhich eaters) have cooked-up out of nothing really, in hope that that 'Barthez the Clown' will be sold to make way for someone like Rustu of Turkey, Uruguay's Carini, or even Spain's Ricardo.
What I don't understand is why on Earth other United fans (just like myself) would be so happy to see a World Cup Winner who has seen and played it all while entertaining the crowd with his fancy-footwork, just pack his bags and be gone just like that - never to be seen again!??
After all, there's nothing wrong with having a World Cup Winning goalkeeper in your side.... you could have David James! How could that be any better!!?
Not only will he be able to keep up with the pace in the biggest of games, on the biggest of occasions, but his experience from the big competitions will prove to be vital for the development of young hopefulls still at the club like Ben Williams, and i'm sure that Nicky Culkin and Paul Rachubka have learnt a good thing or two from him before they left too. Who knows, he may have shown Keeper Coach Tony Coton a thing or two about defending your goal also, after the number of times we've seen him deny all the big names while keeping his cool infront of the attack (and throught their legs!).
The fact is, plain and simple, that Fabien Barthez is and always will be one of those players with values and offers to his employers that cannot under any circumstances be taken for granted in any way.
Sell him now, and we'll surely end the season empty-handed yet again.
Sure, Carroll may be doing a fine job now... but with the European Transfer Deadline less-than 2 days away and player without any REAL experience at the biggest of stages (unlike Barthez) in goal, it could all go Highbury-way again this season.
Have faith in the Fab Man, negative comments are only gunna make him feel ten times worse, where he'll be letting balls through his legs quicker than Massimo Taibi and Paul Jones in one goal together!!
Give him a little bit more time and he'll soon be back on his feet. He's injured at the moment anyway - how can you bad-mouth him when you haven't even seen him play since JUNE!?? All players go throught bad patches in their careers - i've gone over this before. Golakeepers seem to get it more often that players in other positions - possibly due to all that pressure. Fabien just seems to have more bad luck than others, and i've only ever seen him loose control once, during the League game at Highbury last season when Henry ran-away with all-3 points.
Like all you un-gratedull Glory Hunters have been saying for the last few weeks, Rio Ferdinand WILL solve all our problems at the back.
And with a securer backline, Barthez will have less to do and worry about as he will feel a lot better knowing that he can rely on those 4 players (and Roy Keane) all lined-up ahead of him. Pressure gone!
But if you want to see yet another World Class player leave a World Class club just like Stam did last season, then by all means - keep on moaning!
Be ready to expect Stam-less-like effects on the team come May next year!
Bascially, what I am trying to say here is that there is nothing wrong here with 'the man' that is Fabien Barthez. And Fergie knows that - thank god!