On the 1st July 1999, after two years of transfer tugs of war, a thunder storm of newspaper articles and backlashes that struck like whiplashes from fans, Steve McManaman left a club in transition and entered a club in metamorphosis.
At Liverpool he had been the ‘Wizard of the Dribble’, winning a League Cup final virtually single handed, winning an FA Cup early on in his career too. The years were kind to Steve and he cemented his place in Liverpool history. Yet the controversy over his Bosman transfer drew eyes away from his achievements, towards the money that the Premier League had brought to players.
McManaman was the last signing of Guus Hiddink, who was later sacked in February 1999, due to comments about the board and finances and poor league performances. Steve knew the pressure would be immense, particularly as he was only the second Englishman to play for Real Madrid, but also due to the regime change at the club.
Real Madrid were going through one of the most turbulent periods in their history. A new manager brought a new philosophy, John Toshack, and several players were sold to try and combat the rising debt. Mijatovic, Suker, Seedorf and Panucci all made way to help streamline the clubs finances. This process of selling players made star man Raúl speak out, 'The dressing room is a cesspit of lies, treachery and whispers.....I feel sorry for new players like Steve McManaman.'
Whatever Steve was walking into, he was clearly a big deal in Madrid and was the highest profile player to move to Spain, from England, since Gary Lineker's move from Everton to Barcelona in 1986.
His first few games yielded three goals and several assists, Madridistas took him to their hearts straight away. Debuting against Mallorca, on 22nd August 1999 at the Son Moix stadium, he provided the vital assist for a late injury time winner scored by Fernando Morientes. His next game, on 29th August at home against Numancia, saw him score his first goal in the 4-1 demolition.
McManaman and his Madrid teammates took part in the first FIFA Club World Championship in 1999/2000 were he failed to score, eventually coming 4th. However, Steve managed to help Real Madrid make it all the way to the 2000 Champions League final in Paris. Vicente Del Bosque was now the Real Madrid manager, after Toshack was sacked in November of 1999. The build up rounds to the final saw McManaman receive several man of the match awards, based upon the partnership with Fernando Redondo.
Valencia were beaten 3-0 by Real Madrid in an all Spanish final. McManaman scored with a stunning volley from outside the box, many consider this final as his greatest game. Fellow Madrid player Ivan Helguera endorsed the English media's view of McManaman as the man of the match. This historic eighth European Cup win saw him become the first ever English player to win the competition with a foreign club.
Yet despite all the accolades and performances that Steve put in, he was to be sidelined for the rest of his Madrid career. In 2000, as the new Liga season began, Del Bosque was to warn him that he had 'little chance of playing this year'. Incoming President, Florentino Pérez, was followed to the club by football sensation Luís Figo, for a club record transfer fee. This transfer burdened the club with more debt and subsequently several players were sold. One of the players earmarked for sale was McManaman, yet he resisted every attempt to sell him. And there were many attempts to get rid of the Englishman.
Just to slap McManaman in the face with his threat of a non playing season, Del Bosque insisted he would not be issuing Steve with a squad number. The £37 million transfer of Figo led to the board wanting to offload McManaman's £4.5 million salary, however he had a water tight contract until 2004. He managed to resist all bids for him, including an £11 million bid from Middlesbrough which was accepted by Real Madrid and also a £12 million bid from Chelsea that included Tore André Flo. There were also bids from up to eight other clubs including Manchester United's contingent sent by Alex Ferguson.
McManaman wouldn't give up, was given a squad number and a place back in the starting eleven as a poll in El Mundo showed that 90% of Real Madrid fans wanted the club to keep him. Michel Salgado also rallied around him and complained to the management about his treatment after yet another transfer bid was accepted, £8 million from Lazio.
Del Bosque eventually warmed to McManaman, playing him, as a substitute, in the 3-3 draw against Málaga in September. By October Steve had won over Del Bosque and was rewarded with first team starts in the second half of the season. The 2000/2001 season ended with defeat to Bayern Munich in the semi final of the Champions League and victory, with their 28th La Liga title.
2001 saw McManaman's playing time reduced as the Galáctico policy went into overdrive, players like Zidane and Ronaldo arrived to be placed above him in the pecking order. His tenacity saw him earn respect from all his teammates, Spanish media and was twice voted as fans player of the year, by fans who liked to wave white handkerchiefs in tribute to his spectacular goal against Real Oviedo. This determination to impose himself on the starting eleven was given special mention by his golfing partners, Figo and Ronaldo. Through a combination of sheer hard work and a program of acclimatisation to the Spanish culture, McManaman became the darling of fans and a steady fondness radiated from the Spanish media.
The Galáctico policy was not remarked upon by McManaman whilst at the club, instead he waited until releasing his book El Macca. In the book he describes the policy as the 'Disneyfication of Madrid', this was something of a foretelling as Madrid have failed to live up to the successes of the period before that policy.
In his penultimate season at Real Madrid, McManaman enjoyed his warmest welcome from the board, Florentino Pérez said a "man like that would always have a place in my club". Cruyff also lauded McManaman as "everyone's best partner on the pitch". The club lavished him with an historic honour, making him the captain in a FIFA XI, the first Englishman to ever captain Real Madrid, the ultras lapped it up, applauding him enthusiastically. In addition to this he had a fantastic run in the Champions League, coming on as a substitute in the semi final El Clasico and scoring a late goal, he came on as another substitute in the final at Hampden Park, thus ensuring his dual winners medal.
His final season, 2002/2003 saw McManaman used mainly as a late substitute in the first half of the season, but after several assists to Ronaldo's goals, he was given more starts. One start came in the Champions League against AEK Athens were he scored twice, another Champions League start came against Manchester United at Old Trafford, which saw his side lose 4-3.
However, this season proved to be the one that confirmed his critics' opinions, after only 21 games, 9 starts and 15 La Liga appareances, the media started to question his ability and work rate. The English media were accused of selective amnesia after accusing McManaman of selling out to a big money contract and being content to sit on the bench rather than move on. Yet he still managed to win another La Liga medal and the Intercontinental Cup, adding to his expanding list of honours.
The writing was on the wall when Real Madrid signed David Beckham, Steve remained for the pre-season of 2003/2004 then was released by Los Blancos. Beckham, apparently, begged for the midfielder to remain at the club but it was all in vain as Del Bosque was sacked 24 hours after winning La Liga, Steve's support seeped away from the club and he made his journey back to England.
So after 157 appearances, 14 goals and 33 assists, McManaman limped back to the country that had been a thorn in his side since his big money transfer from Liverpool had started getting air time. Never appreciated at Liverpool by the board, never accepted at Real Madrid by the board or manager, constantly put up for transfer and sidelined as an outcast, McManaman showed everyone that his class was evident when on the pitch. A double Champions League winner, the first Englishman to win the competition with a foreign club, the first Englishman to captain a Real Madrid team and a scorer in El Clasico. No one can say that he didn't perform with flair, style and panache.
McManaman isn't my favourite Les Rosbif from Liverpool, that honour resides with Michael Owen, yet he is the most successful in terms of trophies won. I feel for Steve as he tried so hard to fit in, yet the fans never let him forget that they loved him and he took on the might of the Real Madrid politick machine and won, his release was simply a formality. As always, Steve McManaman operated on the wing and his performances allowed others to shine, pity his own career isn't characterised with the diamond quality it deserves.
Tuesday 31 May 2011
Monday 9 May 2011
Third Email From Spreadshirt
Hi Mal,
I can assure you that the shopowner will not be selling this design in his shop. We have taken it off his European shop and also off the US platform. Currently we are checking his account for further products that may carry this text and deactivate these as well.
Both platforms are operated individually, therefore we had to wait for our US-colleagues to react to this.
Hopefully these informations will be able to help you.
Kind regards
Lina
Spreadshirt Legal Service
I can assure you that the shopowner will not be selling this design in his shop. We have taken it off his European shop and also off the US platform. Currently we are checking his account for further products that may carry this text and deactivate these as well.
Both platforms are operated individually, therefore we had to wait for our US-colleagues to react to this.
Hopefully these informations will be able to help you.
Kind regards
Lina
Spreadshirt Legal Service
Friday 6 May 2011
Email I've Sent
Hi Lina.
On behalf of all Liverpool fans, I say thank you for removing this design from the shop. You may not know this but on 29th May it will be the 26th anniversary of the tragedy, so the timing of the removal of the shirts is very timely.
We have been contacted by the Shop Partner and have been told that the design has been removed before but he put it back on. I do not know how true this is, I hope that you did not re-approve this design? Can all the concerned emailers, callers & writers be assured by you, that the design will never be sold again?
Regards
Mal Bennett
Sent from my iPhone
On behalf of all Liverpool fans, I say thank you for removing this design from the shop. You may not know this but on 29th May it will be the 26th anniversary of the tragedy, so the timing of the removal of the shirts is very timely.
We have been contacted by the Shop Partner and have been told that the design has been removed before but he put it back on. I do not know how true this is, I hope that you did not re-approve this design? Can all the concerned emailers, callers & writers be assured by you, that the design will never be sold again?
Regards
Mal Bennett
Sent from my iPhone
Second Email From SpreadShirt
Hello Matt,
Many thanks for your reply.
I want to inform you that our Ethics committee has now been engaged in order to decide if this design should be eliminated from the Shop.
Further information about the decision the committee will make can be found in our Blog - which is of course up to date. There you will also have the chance to communicate your concern publicly and debate this further:
http://blog.spreadshirt.net/uk/2011/05/06/politically-incorrect-questionable-shop-partner-designs/
Please be assured that we are taking this issue very seriously. We are aware of the fact that we cannot separate us fully from the shop.
For further questions please don't hesitate to contact me again.
Kind regards
Lina
Spreadshirt Legal Service
Should you be unhappy with our service or personnel please send an Email to besser@spreadshirt.de
This is no legal advice! All provided information are individual and subjective ratings of the Spreadshirt Legal Service team and have no claim to validity or actuality. In doubt please consult your legal representative.
__________________________
Spreadshirt - The world's creative apparel platform
Follow spreadshirt on Twitter: spreadshirt on Twitter
Address:
Sprd.net AG; Giesserstr. 27; 04229 Leipzig; Germany
Executive Board:
Matthias C. Spieß - Tobias Schaugg - Philip Rooke
Chairman of the Supervisory Board:
Lukasz Gadowski
Trade Register:
Amtsgericht Leipzig, HRB 22478
VAT-ID:
DE 8138 7149 4
Many thanks for your reply.
I want to inform you that our Ethics committee has now been engaged in order to decide if this design should be eliminated from the Shop.
Further information about the decision the committee will make can be found in our Blog - which is of course up to date. There you will also have the chance to communicate your concern publicly and debate this further:
http://blog.spreadshirt.net/uk/2011/05/06/politically-incorrect-questionable-shop-partner-designs/
Please be assured that we are taking this issue very seriously. We are aware of the fact that we cannot separate us fully from the shop.
For further questions please don't hesitate to contact me again.
Kind regards
Lina
Spreadshirt Legal Service
Should you be unhappy with our service or personnel please send an Email to besser@spreadshirt.de
This is no legal advice! All provided information are individual and subjective ratings of the Spreadshirt Legal Service team and have no claim to validity or actuality. In doubt please consult your legal representative.
__________________________
Spreadshirt - The world's creative apparel platform
Follow spreadshirt on Twitter: spreadshirt on Twitter
Address:
Sprd.net AG; Giesserstr. 27; 04229 Leipzig; Germany
Executive Board:
Matthias C. Spieß - Tobias Schaugg - Philip Rooke
Chairman of the Supervisory Board:
Lukasz Gadowski
Trade Register:
Amtsgericht Leipzig, HRB 22478
VAT-ID:
DE 8138 7149 4
Email From SpreadShirt
Hello Mal,
Thank you very much for you e-mail expressing your concern about the design mentioned. We realize that you are a large group feeling offended by it and acknowledge and respect your wish.
The design has been published in the shop by the shop owner, who is also solely editorially responsible for it. Therefore we ask you to contact him with your concern and your request to take down the design.
Please believe us that we have debated intensely about the subject and also researched the situation thoroughly. As a German company we were not immediately familiar with the background and the context that you refer to, therefore our reaction took some time. We apologize for this and also hope for your understanding.
We ask you to approach the shop owner directly because we are – as the platform operator – for the shops responsible in limited terms only, i.e. by maintaining and supervising it. We do check the designs as you may be aware of but only for direct rights violations such as trademark rights or copyrights.
But in this case it is an ethical or rather moral background rather than the design itself that is causing the trouble. Therefore the shop owner is the right contact. We do not intervene with the mindset of the content of the shops because that would easily lead to patronizing the shop owners – which is something that we duly try to avoid.
We also believe that while it is not only necessary for you as a group to approach the shop owner, it would also be the better solution for this problem. If all of you - and as far as we know there are many - would contact the operators of the shop these would be well aware of the force that they are standing against. It would help to make the people standing behind the Republic of Mancunia understand how much they are crossing the line with this design.
We hope that you can understand our point of view. We also wish you success in your negotiations with the shop owner.
For further questions please don't hesitate to contact me again.
Kind regards
Lina
Spreadshirt Legal Service
Should you be unhappy with our service or personnel please send an Email to besser@spreadshirt.de
This is no legal advice! All provided information are individual and subjective ratings of the Spreadshirt Legal Service team and have no claim to validity or actuality. In doubt please consult your legal representative.
__________________________
Spreadshirt - The world's creative apparel platform
Follow spreadshirt on Twitter: spreadshirt on Twitter
Address:
Sprd.net AG; Giesserstr. 27; 04229 Leipzig; Germany
Executive Board:
Matthias C. Spieß - Tobias Schaugg - Philip Rooke
Chairman of the Supervisory Board:
Lukasz Gadowski
Trade Register:
Amtsgericht Leipzig, HRB 22478
VAT-ID:
DE 8138 7149 4
Thank you very much for you e-mail expressing your concern about the design mentioned. We realize that you are a large group feeling offended by it and acknowledge and respect your wish.
The design has been published in the shop by the shop owner, who is also solely editorially responsible for it. Therefore we ask you to contact him with your concern and your request to take down the design.
Please believe us that we have debated intensely about the subject and also researched the situation thoroughly. As a German company we were not immediately familiar with the background and the context that you refer to, therefore our reaction took some time. We apologize for this and also hope for your understanding.
We ask you to approach the shop owner directly because we are – as the platform operator – for the shops responsible in limited terms only, i.e. by maintaining and supervising it. We do check the designs as you may be aware of but only for direct rights violations such as trademark rights or copyrights.
But in this case it is an ethical or rather moral background rather than the design itself that is causing the trouble. Therefore the shop owner is the right contact. We do not intervene with the mindset of the content of the shops because that would easily lead to patronizing the shop owners – which is something that we duly try to avoid.
We also believe that while it is not only necessary for you as a group to approach the shop owner, it would also be the better solution for this problem. If all of you - and as far as we know there are many - would contact the operators of the shop these would be well aware of the force that they are standing against. It would help to make the people standing behind the Republic of Mancunia understand how much they are crossing the line with this design.
We hope that you can understand our point of view. We also wish you success in your negotiations with the shop owner.
For further questions please don't hesitate to contact me again.
Kind regards
Lina
Spreadshirt Legal Service
Should you be unhappy with our service or personnel please send an Email to besser@spreadshirt.de
This is no legal advice! All provided information are individual and subjective ratings of the Spreadshirt Legal Service team and have no claim to validity or actuality. In doubt please consult your legal representative.
__________________________
Spreadshirt - The world's creative apparel platform
Follow spreadshirt on Twitter: spreadshirt on Twitter
Address:
Sprd.net AG; Giesserstr. 27; 04229 Leipzig; Germany
Executive Board:
Matthias C. Spieß - Tobias Schaugg - Philip Rooke
Chairman of the Supervisory Board:
Lukasz Gadowski
Trade Register:
Amtsgericht Leipzig, HRB 22478
VAT-ID:
DE 8138 7149 4
Thursday 5 May 2011
Campaign Against Republik Of Mancunia Merchandise
This is the one stop page for all the information that you will need to help us shut down a website that is harming relations between football fans of Manchester United and Liverpool.
Please help us by emailing, writing or phoning and complaining about this obscene site.
http://mancuniamerchandise.spreadshirt.co.uk/without-killing-anyone-I5339742
This is the merchandise site that sells shirts mocking the tragedy of Heysel, 1985.
http://therepublikofmancunia.com/
This is the blog of Scott, the person who also runs the merchandise site
@R_o_M
This is the twitter name of Scott.
scott@mancuniamerchandise.com
This is his email address. (Not his personal account)
May I please ask that no references are made to the Munich Air Disaster when emailing or speaking to Scott as we should not reduce ourselves to his level.
The company who provide the technical platform for the merchandise shop, or the Shop Partner as they call it, are called SpreadShirts.
This is the email address of SpreadShirts.
info@spreadshirt.net
This is the German address, it's superior headquarters
sprd.net AG
Gießerstraße 27
04229 Leipzig
Germany
This is the British address.
Spreadshirt.co.uk
2 Sheraton St
Soho
London
WIF 8BH
England
Here is a link to the national headquarters for each country
http://www.spreadshirt.co.uk/branch-offices-C72
This is the British telephone number
+44 20 3137 2587
This is the twitter account of SpreadShirt
@spreadshirt
The chairman of the board is Łukasz Godowski.
Here is his twitter account
@lak
Please send emails, write or phone.
Use these templates and copy and paste them into an email or print them off for a letter.
Dear Sir/Madam,
We fans of football are appalled at the range of merchandise that are on sale in one of your virtual shops.
http://mancuniamerchandise.spreadshirt.co.uk
This merchandise is inflammatory and derogatory. It mocks the tragedy of the Heysel Stadium in 1985.
We urge you to take action and put pressure upon Scott to stop selling these designs.
We do not subscribe to your excuse that the legality of the designs lie with the Shop Partner, rather we see your company, who produce the shirts, as culpable for them instead.
At the very least we expect a reply. If that reply is not acceptable we will pursue a policy of petitions, email and letter campaigns, newspaper and blog articles. Unfortunately we will not accept that this disgraceful merchandise should be allowed to be sold through an affiliate of yours.
Yours sincerely
Please help us by emailing, writing or phoning and complaining about this obscene site.
http://mancuniamerchandise.spreadshirt.co.uk/without-killing-anyone-I5339742
This is the merchandise site that sells shirts mocking the tragedy of Heysel, 1985.
http://therepublikofmancunia.com/
This is the blog of Scott, the person who also runs the merchandise site
@R_o_M
This is the twitter name of Scott.
scott@mancuniamerchandise.com
This is his email address. (Not his personal account)
May I please ask that no references are made to the Munich Air Disaster when emailing or speaking to Scott as we should not reduce ourselves to his level.
The company who provide the technical platform for the merchandise shop, or the Shop Partner as they call it, are called SpreadShirts.
This is the email address of SpreadShirts.
info@spreadshirt.net
This is the German address, it's superior headquarters
sprd.net AG
Gießerstraße 27
04229 Leipzig
Germany
This is the British address.
Spreadshirt.co.uk
2 Sheraton St
Soho
London
WIF 8BH
England
Here is a link to the national headquarters for each country
http://www.spreadshirt.co.uk/branch-offices-C72
This is the British telephone number
+44 20 3137 2587
This is the twitter account of SpreadShirt
@spreadshirt
The chairman of the board is Łukasz Godowski.
Here is his twitter account
@lak
Please send emails, write or phone.
Use these templates and copy and paste them into an email or print them off for a letter.
Dear Sir/Madam,
We fans of football are appalled at the range of merchandise that are on sale in one of your virtual shops.
http://mancuniamerchandise.spreadshirt.co.uk
This merchandise is inflammatory and derogatory. It mocks the tragedy of the Heysel Stadium in 1985.
We urge you to take action and put pressure upon Scott to stop selling these designs.
We do not subscribe to your excuse that the legality of the designs lie with the Shop Partner, rather we see your company, who produce the shirts, as culpable for them instead.
At the very least we expect a reply. If that reply is not acceptable we will pursue a policy of petitions, email and letter campaigns, newspaper and blog articles. Unfortunately we will not accept that this disgraceful merchandise should be allowed to be sold through an affiliate of yours.
Yours sincerely
Wednesday 4 May 2011
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