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Owen Hargreaves - I felt like a guinea pig at Man Utd

Discussion in 'Manchester United' started by HendyMMA, Sep 23, 2011.

  1. Alan

    Alan Well-Known Member

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    Because we did not need him. He offered to play for us for FREE and Fergie told him to find another club.
     
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  2. robin_van_ fiberglass

    robin_van_ fiberglass Active Member

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    So is this why he is bitter?
     
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  3. Alan

    Alan Well-Known Member

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    Don't have a clue. Fergie told him it would in all parties best interest if a new contract is not signed and told Hargreaves he would be better of at a new club. He must be on more at City than he was United so it worked out good for him.

    What made a lot of United fans mad was his comments today.
     
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  4. robin_van_ fiberglass

    robin_van_ fiberglass Active Member

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    Hmmm, i still get the feeling that what he is saying is partly true.
     
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  5. Chief

    Chief Northern Simpleton
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    Christ, you're not going to kneecap him are you?
     
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  6. merrysupersteve

    merrysupersteve Active Member

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    His problems were in his head. He was mentally weak. Sir Alex hinted at this on numerous occasions. Hargreaves himself admitted that he needed a change of scenery. Only an idiot would think that City have a medical staff who can solve a 3 year old injury in 3 weeks- or Owen Hargreaves himself, if we are to believe a word the snake says.

    The fact that he was releasing videos to show his fitness and passed a lengthy medical suggests that the injury was gone before he saw Citys medical staff. If only if hadn't been so weak mentally, United may have seen the benefit of this.
     
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  7. Manobear

    Manobear I love cheeseburgers

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    Also, he saw countless specialists, I know he spent time with a doctor in the USA, in Colorado I believe, with a doctor who specializes in athletic knee injuries. Think he also spent time in Germany too. There was obviously multiple opinions on the best course of action.

    What I find odd is that the injuries that kept him out last year, weren't related to the tendinitis in his knees. Unless his shoulder is attached to his knees. When he recovered from that he hurt his hamstring.
     
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  8. robin_van_ fiberglass

    robin_van_ fiberglass Active Member

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    Good point I hadn't considered that.
     
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  9. TheRossi

    TheRossi New Member

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    This is amazing - are you all ****ing 8 years old? He was a guinea pig, in that the treatment they were using on him was experimental. Who was the last Man Utd player who had the same problems as Hargreaves? He's not saying they forced it on him or forced him to play, he's saying with hindsight it was the wrong option. He even admits that he agreed to play against Wolves and planned not to sprint! He's hardly ****ting on his ex.

    I'm sure most fans on here originally wished him well, but one honest interview and he was '**** all along,' and 'wouldn't make the stating 11.'
     
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  10. merrysupersteve

    merrysupersteve Active Member

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    Rio Ferdinand underwent the same course of treatment to ease his back problems. Still think Owen has mental fragility to blame more than our medical staff.

    The most interesting point is when he says that he was given a medical all clear by our staff but still felt 'made of glass.' Now, I am not saying that he didn't feel this way. What I am saying is that this is just more evidence in favour of a mental block. Medically fine, psychologically not.
     
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  11. Zingy

    Zingy #ziggywould

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    Your club should be ashamed with how badly you treated this poor lad. <ok>
     
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  12. Chief

    Chief Northern Simpleton
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    I know, giving him 60 grand a week for doing **** all.

    Shamefull.
     
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  13. BringBackfootie

    BringBackfootie New Member

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    Oh dear. Ye all need to take it for what it is.

    He's endearing himself to City fans and he never had any ties with UNited fans anyway as he never played games.

    It is just a little ironic that he goes to city and plays again and just happens to get a goal. It's a media stunt. PR bull****. If he felt like a test subject why did he hang around 3 fkn years:)
    I mean c'mon, he's just gone from United to City, somethng had to be done to get in with the true blue fans eh?
     
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  14. SAF dried my hair

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    This is a good point. I'm pretty sure if he had asked to be released from his contract United would have loved to get rid of him. He had no problem being a 'guinea pig' as long as he got his £70,000 a week
     
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  15. Swarbs

    Swarbs Well-Known Member
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    I'm sorry mate, but you clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Prolotherapy, the injection of a glucose solution into a tendon or ligament to stimulate new growth, has been clinically proven to have a greater than 80% success rate at treating ligament damage. And it has been used as a medical treatment since 1956. There was nothing "experimental" at all, Hargreaves just had a bad reaction to the injection, which happens with any treatment. It was his responsibility to familiarise himself with the risks before consenting to the injection. The rest was all down to him failing to recover properly from his injury.

    As for the Wolves game, he admitted himself that he should have ruled himself out of the game, but he was too mentally fragile:

    "&#8216;There were 70,000 people there and if I had walked away from the game it would look like I didn&#8217;t want to play. I thought, &#8220;I&#8217;ll try and play, I just won&#8217;t sprint&#8221;."

    What did he expect was going to happen? That's possibly one of the most selfish things a sportsman can do - playing when you know you are not fit and won't be able to compete, just to make yourself look better.

    Probably true, but I hoped for better than this from Hargo. He always seemed like a model professional rather than someone like Tevez, Clichy or Torres who would say anything and step on anyone just to make their new fans like them and build their own profile.
     
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  16. stopthepress

    stopthepress Member

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    Honestly none of this is news. I'm sure he's said it all before, but the media only choose to sensationalize it now.

    Personally I believe Hargreaves' playing style may have been the cause of his injuries. He always seemed to be over-stretching himself, putting in more physical exertion than was required. Even in interviews, he seems so proud of his athletic ability rather than his footballing ability. Perhaps now he'll have a calmer approach to the game, knowing that he has to play within the limits of his body.
     
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  17. Alan

    Alan Well-Known Member

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    Poor lad? he was on 70,000 a week for 3 years for just sitting on his fat arse all day.
     
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  18. TheRossi

    TheRossi New Member

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    I didn't exactly mean the treatment was experimental in itself, but in relation to the particular injury it was. Someone has said Ferdinand had the se treatment, but his was on his back - not on a knee that Dr Steadman said was the 'worst I've ever seem'.

    And by admitting he was planning to fake his way through the Wolves match he is putting the blame on himself. He admits he should have said no, but he didn't want to miss out. Hardly an attack on United.
     
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  19. SAMOC

    SAMOC New Member

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    When he is injured next week and out for a year, lets see how well city treat him
     
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  20. Swarbs

    Swarbs Well-Known Member
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    Sorry mate, wrong again. Prolotherapy has been used, and studied in medical journals, as a valid treatment method for patellar tendonitis and patellar tendinopathy. Heck, even the ancient Greeks and Romans recognised that using hot needles to irritate a damaged tendon or ligament was a valid method of treating injuries in these areas. It's about as experimental as using a bandage to stop bleeding.

    The aim of the treatment was to avoid surgery - if surgery goes wrong then it is almost guaranteed to end a career so doctors try to avoid opening people up as much as possible. The only reason his knee was the worst Steadman had ever seen was that it reacted badly to the injections, and had already been significantly damaged. Hargreaves' "guinea pig" comment is simply him trying to dodge blame for his own bad decisions / failure to understand the treatment implications and risks.

    I agree with you here - I misread your original post and though you were arguing that they had forced him to play. Ultimately, I think Hargo tried to make out that his injury problems were less serious than they were, which is why the club went with a knee injection instead of an immediate referral to a specialist. Likewise with his hamstrings when he came back against Wolves. He seemed to be trying to rush himself back to fitness without engaging in proper rehab (which is one of the reasons his tendons turned to "apple sauce" - he kept tearing them by not waiting till they were fully healed). Now he seems to be trying to cast some of the blame around, perhaps still unwilling to accept that the only person to blame for how his career has unfolded over the last three years is himself. Which is disappointing to see from a player who used to be one of my favourites, even after he joined City.
     
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