Connor_loft
Active member
Ronaldo, Fernandes, Pogba etc strong side
* F.A. Cup 4th Round: Manchester Utd v Middlesbrough. Match-day Thread *
- Thread starter r00fie1
- Start date
Nosmo-King
Well-known member
Connor, you’ll get used to Nobby… Thinks he’s the board joker. Just to mark your card, posters laugh at him - not with him….
Hap
Well-known member
Remember George playing in Jim Platts testmonial?
r00fie1
Well-known member
Hes a Rambler From Manchester Way.....
[Well Altrincham actually]
[Published June 2013]
www.dailymail.co.uk
Duncan Watmore knows.
The 19-year-old striker, son of former FA chief executive Ian Watmore, recently signed a two-year deal at the Stadium of Light and will be joining the Black Cats in July.
Eye for goal: Eight-year-old Duncan Watmore, at his school fair, has agreed a move to the Premier League
United starlet: Duncan Watmore, circled, was at Manchester United's Academy from the age of eight to 13
Heading north (east): Watmore, 19, has signed a two-year deal at Sunderland after just one full season with non-League Altrincham
Just hours after one of his last exams of the academic year, Watmore sat down to discuss the whirlwind of the last eight weeks, which has seen him plucked from non-league football and making a five-division leap jump to the top flight.
The striker, who helped steer Altrincham into the Blue Square Bet North play-offs where they lost in the semi-finals to Brackley 4-2 on aggregate, said: 'It all happened within a week. They put in a bid, then they negotiated.
'Four or five days later they said they agreed and then two days after that they invited me up for the medical. It all happened very quickly.
'I wouldn’t have predicted this two months ago. It’s all been so crazy for me, and it’s come out of nowhere. All this season I’ve just been thinking about doing well for Altrincham. I assumed I’d be there next season, and then this offer came along.'
Watmore has only had one full season on the first team at Altrincham, but made quite an impression. The awards that came his way after he scored 15 goals in 35 starts included Goal of the Year and Fans' Player of the Year.
He’s the first signing under Di Canio - even though the Italian had minimal involvement in the move with the club's senior professional development coach Kevin Ball striking the deal - and many a young player might be intimidated by the Italian’s regime at the club, as he has made it clear that discipline is at the forefront of his mind.
When photos of full back Phil Bardsley lying on the floor of a casino covered in £50 notes emerged, the manager wasted no time in banning him from training.
In a move that echoed Arsene Wenger’s decision to remove chips from his players’ diets at Arsenal, Di Canio has also allegedly banned sugar and ketchup from the canteen at Sunderland’s training ground.
Watmore, however, is very much on board with this approach.
'I think whatever changes he does bring will be for the better of the club,' he said. 'I’m very happy with being disciplined and I think it’s very important. Keeping the players in line is a good thing.'
'The aim is to be working under him, so I want to get that opportunity and hopefully if I play well, I might get the chance.'
Sunderland fought off competition from a number of interested parties to land Watmore, though the teenager knew little of what was going on behind the scenes.
'Peterborough were apparently watching,' he added. 'And maybe a couple of others, but I never heard anything. I only ever heard of Sunderland's interest about two-and-a-half months ago. I was a bit shocked. It was a nice feeling, but I obviously didn’t get ahead of myself at that point.
'Once they invited me up it was serious, because they don’t just invite everyone up. I went up there to see all the facilities, and they were unbelievable. They are so impressive. I was really keen on the idea and I knew I just had to carry on playing well.'
Six weeks of silence followed his trip to the club, three of which were spent on the sidelines with a groin injury.
Luckily Watmore had the play-offs to distract him. He was, however, sure that he would jump at the chance if it were offered.
'Sunderland had such a good football philosophy,' he said. 'I got the impression straight away that it was a very serious club and very keen on hard work. They treat the youth team really well and put a lot of emphasis on that.'
His father was also very pleased with the move.
'I've always like Sunderland,' said Watmore Snr, an Arsenal supporter. 'I saw them play in the 1973 Cup Final when they beat Leeds 1-0. It was my first trip to Wembley so I've liked them since them.
'I think the move there is very positive and the facilities and the people up there have been very good, very professional and welcoming.'
Both are aware that the move is going to bring a great challenge with it. Having been a star performer at Altrincham, moving from the youth side to the first team in a matter of weeks, the teenager is making an impressive leap to join the Premier League side.
United fan, future Sunderland star: Watmore poses with his treasured Old Trafford memorabilia
On top of that, he will be living on his own for the first time, moving from the family home in Cheshire where he has grown up, as well as juggling his degree in Finance and Economics, which he will be transferring from Manchester to Newcastle University.
'I want to prove myself,' he said. 'And hopefully I can. I’m looking forward to doing so. My main focus is just to become a better footballer.
'I’m looking forward to it, definitely. But I’m moving to live on my own, and I’m going to be in a full-time job while studying. It’ll be hectic.
'The change will be a huge step, but I’ve just got to play the same football and see what I can do. If I can get into training with the first team that would be awesome but I’m not really thinking about that for now. I’m just going to try and play my best at the development squad and see how much I can step up.
'It will be crazy to start with, when you’ve seen these people on the TV and now you’re seeing them where you’re training. It will be really weird being with the stars of the Premier League. But then I’ll just want to be playing my football. So I’ll just try and keep the wow factor of it all back.'
The wow factor is something that Watmore has encountered before, having played with the Manchester United academy from age seven to 13.
Spotted at four years old, he was then put into a feeder club and selected to join the academy two years later.
Tony Whelan, his favourite coach at United, is still the academy’s assistant director.
His time there included tours to cities such as Paris, where, as an eight-year-old, he was selected to open a football school with a strike against Disney’s Goofy. More excitingly, he and his team-mates took part in a kickabout with Eric Cantona.
'I don’t remember much about it,' he said. 'I just remember thinking, "Oh my god it’s Eric Cantona!"'
Despite having excelled early on, Watmore doesn’t remember ever feeling as though football was something particularly important.
'It just seemed to be what I did,' he added. 'I didn’t think at any point that I was really special at it. I just played.
'As soon as you’re at United its obviously quite clear that you’re doing well for yourself, but I wasn’t thinking of it being professional then. I was just playing for fun, and luckily happened to be quite good at it.'
But while Watmore might not have been aware of his talent, others, including his father, had spotted it from a very early age. Despite being one of four very active brothers, the second youngest was the stand-out sporting star.
'You could see that he was different in terms of the level he was playing at,' added Watmore Snr. 'And that's how he got picked up by the coach for Manchester United. He went to a half-term camp when he was nearly five, the coach couldn't believe that he wasn't 10 or something.'
Despite his son's evident talent, the former FA boss and ex-Civil Servant was wary of encouraging him towards a career in football, knowing its pitfalls well, and wanted to make sure that when the time came, the teenager would have options. Even now, he is keeping his expectations tempered.
'We never thought that football was the only option for him because he's a bright lad and we know what careers in football are like,' he said. 'There are a lot of promising young players who fall by the wayside. So we always made sure that he had a lot of strings to his bow.”
And that attitude helped Watmore Jnr through the disappointment of being released from United at the age of 13.
Close control: Watmore (right) holds off a Burton defender during their FA Cup clash
'I remember being really upset when I was released but I had my studies,' said the 19-year-old. 'So I never really fully committed myself at a young age. I don’t remember thinking football was my career.'
Despite only playing for fun from then on, Watmore found himself spotted once more, with George Heslop inviting him into Altrincham’s youth team at the age of 17. Now it looks as though the striker is on an upward trajectory, though he is determined to keep his feet on the ground.
'I’ve always recognised how volatile the football world is,' he said. 'One minute you’re making it, the next you’re gone. So I’ve always thought, no matter how successful I get, I was always going to stick with my degree and make sure that was the main thing.
'Even if I get better and better for the next two years and it looks more and more likely that I could make it, I still want my degree, because I know that just like that you can lose it all.'
His father is equally cautious, admitting that the budding star has a long road ahead before he achieves his Premier League dreams.
'It is a big step up that he's making now, from Altrincham to a top-flight club. But the step up from the Under 21s squad to the first team will be another big one so there's a long way to go.'
www.chroniclelive.co.uk
Former Sunderland forward Duncan Watmore signs for Middlesbrough
[Well Altrincham actually]
[Published June 2013]
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Meet Di Canio's first Sunderland signing, he's 19, played with Cantona, is still at university and his dad's a former FA boss (no pressure, then)
Duncan Watmore was sitting university exams, playing for Altrincham in the Blue Square Bet North North play-offs and negotiating offers from a host of top clubs. Then Paolo Di Canio's Sunderland came calling...
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Meet Di Canio's first Sunderland signing, he's 19, played with Cantona, is still at university and his dad's a former FA boss (no pressure, then)
Exam time at university is stressful. Battling it out in Blue Square Bet North play-offs is tense. Negotiating big-money moves with Barclays Premier League clubs is exciting. Signing for Paolo Di Canio and becoming his first recruit at Sunderland... what's that like?Duncan Watmore knows.
The 19-year-old striker, son of former FA chief executive Ian Watmore, recently signed a two-year deal at the Stadium of Light and will be joining the Black Cats in July.
Eye for goal: Eight-year-old Duncan Watmore, at his school fair, has agreed a move to the Premier League
United starlet: Duncan Watmore, circled, was at Manchester United's Academy from the age of eight to 13
Heading north (east): Watmore, 19, has signed a two-year deal at Sunderland after just one full season with non-League Altrincham
Just hours after one of his last exams of the academic year, Watmore sat down to discuss the whirlwind of the last eight weeks, which has seen him plucked from non-league football and making a five-division leap jump to the top flight.
The striker, who helped steer Altrincham into the Blue Square Bet North play-offs where they lost in the semi-finals to Brackley 4-2 on aggregate, said: 'It all happened within a week. They put in a bid, then they negotiated.
'Four or five days later they said they agreed and then two days after that they invited me up for the medical. It all happened very quickly.
'I wouldn’t have predicted this two months ago. It’s all been so crazy for me, and it’s come out of nowhere. All this season I’ve just been thinking about doing well for Altrincham. I assumed I’d be there next season, and then this offer came along.'
He’s the first signing under Di Canio - even though the Italian had minimal involvement in the move with the club's senior professional development coach Kevin Ball striking the deal - and many a young player might be intimidated by the Italian’s regime at the club, as he has made it clear that discipline is at the forefront of his mind.
When photos of full back Phil Bardsley lying on the floor of a casino covered in £50 notes emerged, the manager wasted no time in banning him from training.
In a move that echoed Arsene Wenger’s decision to remove chips from his players’ diets at Arsenal, Di Canio has also allegedly banned sugar and ketchup from the canteen at Sunderland’s training ground.
Watmore, however, is very much on board with this approach.
'I think whatever changes he does bring will be for the better of the club,' he said. 'I’m very happy with being disciplined and I think it’s very important. Keeping the players in line is a good thing.'
'The aim is to be working under him, so I want to get that opportunity and hopefully if I play well, I might get the chance.'
Sunderland fought off competition from a number of interested parties to land Watmore, though the teenager knew little of what was going on behind the scenes.
'Peterborough were apparently watching,' he added. 'And maybe a couple of others, but I never heard anything. I only ever heard of Sunderland's interest about two-and-a-half months ago. I was a bit shocked. It was a nice feeling, but I obviously didn’t get ahead of myself at that point.
'Once they invited me up it was serious, because they don’t just invite everyone up. I went up there to see all the facilities, and they were unbelievable. They are so impressive. I was really keen on the idea and I knew I just had to carry on playing well.'
Six weeks of silence followed his trip to the club, three of which were spent on the sidelines with a groin injury.
Luckily Watmore had the play-offs to distract him. He was, however, sure that he would jump at the chance if it were offered.
'Sunderland had such a good football philosophy,' he said. 'I got the impression straight away that it was a very serious club and very keen on hard work. They treat the youth team really well and put a lot of emphasis on that.'
His father was also very pleased with the move.
'I've always like Sunderland,' said Watmore Snr, an Arsenal supporter. 'I saw them play in the 1973 Cup Final when they beat Leeds 1-0. It was my first trip to Wembley so I've liked them since them.
'I think the move there is very positive and the facilities and the people up there have been very good, very professional and welcoming.'
Both are aware that the move is going to bring a great challenge with it. Having been a star performer at Altrincham, moving from the youth side to the first team in a matter of weeks, the teenager is making an impressive leap to join the Premier League side.
United fan, future Sunderland star: Watmore poses with his treasured Old Trafford memorabilia
On top of that, he will be living on his own for the first time, moving from the family home in Cheshire where he has grown up, as well as juggling his degree in Finance and Economics, which he will be transferring from Manchester to Newcastle University.
'I want to prove myself,' he said. 'And hopefully I can. I’m looking forward to doing so. My main focus is just to become a better footballer.
'I’m looking forward to it, definitely. But I’m moving to live on my own, and I’m going to be in a full-time job while studying. It’ll be hectic.
'The change will be a huge step, but I’ve just got to play the same football and see what I can do. If I can get into training with the first team that would be awesome but I’m not really thinking about that for now. I’m just going to try and play my best at the development squad and see how much I can step up.
'It will be crazy to start with, when you’ve seen these people on the TV and now you’re seeing them where you’re training. It will be really weird being with the stars of the Premier League. But then I’ll just want to be playing my football. So I’ll just try and keep the wow factor of it all back.'
The wow factor is something that Watmore has encountered before, having played with the Manchester United academy from age seven to 13.
Spotted at four years old, he was then put into a feeder club and selected to join the academy two years later.
Tony Whelan, his favourite coach at United, is still the academy’s assistant director.
His time there included tours to cities such as Paris, where, as an eight-year-old, he was selected to open a football school with a strike against Disney’s Goofy. More excitingly, he and his team-mates took part in a kickabout with Eric Cantona.
'I don’t remember much about it,' he said. 'I just remember thinking, "Oh my god it’s Eric Cantona!"'
Despite having excelled early on, Watmore doesn’t remember ever feeling as though football was something particularly important.
'It just seemed to be what I did,' he added. 'I didn’t think at any point that I was really special at it. I just played.
'As soon as you’re at United its obviously quite clear that you’re doing well for yourself, but I wasn’t thinking of it being professional then. I was just playing for fun, and luckily happened to be quite good at it.'
But while Watmore might not have been aware of his talent, others, including his father, had spotted it from a very early age. Despite being one of four very active brothers, the second youngest was the stand-out sporting star.
'You could see that he was different in terms of the level he was playing at,' added Watmore Snr. 'And that's how he got picked up by the coach for Manchester United. He went to a half-term camp when he was nearly five, the coach couldn't believe that he wasn't 10 or something.'
Despite his son's evident talent, the former FA boss and ex-Civil Servant was wary of encouraging him towards a career in football, knowing its pitfalls well, and wanted to make sure that when the time came, the teenager would have options. Even now, he is keeping his expectations tempered.
'We never thought that football was the only option for him because he's a bright lad and we know what careers in football are like,' he said. 'There are a lot of promising young players who fall by the wayside. So we always made sure that he had a lot of strings to his bow.”
And that attitude helped Watmore Jnr through the disappointment of being released from United at the age of 13.
Close control: Watmore (right) holds off a Burton defender during their FA Cup clash
'I remember being really upset when I was released but I had my studies,' said the 19-year-old. 'So I never really fully committed myself at a young age. I don’t remember thinking football was my career.'
Despite only playing for fun from then on, Watmore found himself spotted once more, with George Heslop inviting him into Altrincham’s youth team at the age of 17. Now it looks as though the striker is on an upward trajectory, though he is determined to keep his feet on the ground.
'I’ve always recognised how volatile the football world is,' he said. 'One minute you’re making it, the next you’re gone. So I’ve always thought, no matter how successful I get, I was always going to stick with my degree and make sure that was the main thing.
'Even if I get better and better for the next two years and it looks more and more likely that I could make it, I still want my degree, because I know that just like that you can lose it all.'
His father is equally cautious, admitting that the budding star has a long road ahead before he achieves his Premier League dreams.
'It is a big step up that he's making now, from Altrincham to a top-flight club. But the step up from the Under 21s squad to the first team will be another big one so there's a long way to go.'
Former Sunderland forward Duncan Watmore signs for Middlesbrough
"He’s done very well in training and he’s a smashing lad."
www.chroniclelive.co.uk
End to the Watmore uncertainty as forward signs new Boro contract
Delighted Neil Warnock says he 'didn't think it was ever in doubt' that Watmore would stay at the club
www.gazettelive.co.uk
End to the Watmore uncertainty as forward signs new Boro contract
Delighted Neil Warnock says he 'didn't think it was ever in doubt' that Watmore would stay at the club
www.gazettelive.co.uk
An end to the Duncan Watmore uncertainty as forward signs long-term Middlesbrough contract
r00fie1
Well-known member
TheBoroBuzzard
Well-known member
That’s United’s strongest team possible 
Nosmo-King
Well-known member
Luke Shaw can be attacked with pace - and this is our strongest flank!
FabioPorkpie
Well-known member
I’m peeing my pants with excitement at this one! UTFB!
