Bebe Proven Fergie’s Ultimate Flop with Loan Move

Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is often praised for his shrewd transfer dealings that have brought so much success to Old Trafford over his 26-year tenure.

Rio Ferdinand, Eric Cantona, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and a young Cristiano Ronaldo all arrived under various levels of scrutiny but rose to become title winners for Ferguson and his Red Devils. Yet, there have been some duds in the Scotsman’s transfer dealings, with Bebe quite possibly his biggest ever mistake.

Bebe, the infamous Portuguese striker brought to Old Trafford for £7.4m, despite Ferguson having never even seen him play, is the manager’s ultimate flop after playing just six games, scoring twice, since arriving in 2010. That is £1.2m a game and £3.7m a goal.

A stint at Besiktas over the 2011/12 season did little to convince Ferguson he was ready for the big time at Old Trafford, and after six months sat on the bench of the reserves, Bebe has finally been moved on – possibly for the last time.

The striker has gone out on loan to Portuguese mid-table side, Rio Ave, and is unlikely ever to return. He will go down as Ferguson’s worst value-for-money signing: worse then Juan Veron, Kleberson, Eric Djemba Djemba, and Diego Forlan. These flops at least showed some signs of ability and flourished outside the Premier League, but Bebe has done nothing, it seems, in his entire career.

So, when United fans in the betting world see their ultimate reserve striker go out on loan this January, they can breathe a huge sigh of relief and good riddance to a real embarrassment to the club.

Ferguson was made to look a mug by the entire Bebe affair and will have learned his lesson from this. It was a PR disaster and proved the manager does not have control over everything at Old Trafford, something Ferguson has stringently resurrected since then.

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Forest Managerial Change a Farce

And we all thought October was the silly season! The news that Nottingham Forest manager, Sean O’Driscoll, has been sacked just hours after his side engineered an emphatic 4-2 victory over Leeds United on Boxing Day staggered many English football fans, with the finger clearly pointed at chairman, Fawaz Al Hasawi.

Forest’s Christmas could not have gone better after the team rebounded from a 2-0 defeat to Watford at the weekend to defy the odds on Betfair and stun Leeds inside the City Ground – Billy Sharp’s brace firing the home side in front early in the second half.

The stadium was rocking to the sound of victory and festive spirit, yet one man was clearly not in the mood to join in.

“It saddens me but we have parted company with Sean O'Driscoll. A tough decision but we are determined to move our great club forward,” Al Hasawi revealed on his Twitter profile just hours after the full-time whistle.

“[M]ade contact with PL manager tonight. Meeting Thursday,” he concluded, three hours later. Yet while some Forest fans will be eagerly anticipating the arrival of a Premier League manager, the vast majority will still be astounded O’Driscoll has been sacked on Boxing Day.

The surprise isn’t that he was sacked, for Forest have not met expectations this season and have won just two in their past six games, but that it comes right in the middle of the busiest fixture pile-up of the season.

Forest now face high-flying Crystal Palace and a tricky visit to Blackburn within a week and the confidence this squad could have taken from that 4-2 thumping of Leeds would have seen them good into the New Year.

However, as chairman Al Hasawi can do what he likes, and, if he feels he can bring in an experienced manager to spend his resources in January, then who can argue with that? Di Matteo is currently the favourite for the post, according to Betfair.

Sadly, the whole thing still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth during this otherwise very merry Christmas.

Benteke the Inspiration for Improving Villa

Aston Villa and new boss, Paul Lambert endured a difficult start to the Premier League season but there are real signs they are on the up, and fans looking for betting tips should expect a much better second half to the campaign.

When the amiable Scot left Norwich - a job he had excelled in - over the summer to take the reins at Villa Park, he was expected to lead the side up the table after a difficult previous 12 months under old boss, Alex McLeish.

It did not begin like that, though, and plenty were tipping the Midlanders to be involved in the relegation battle for much of the season.

Lacklustre performances, a threadbare, injury-hit squad that was conceding plenty but struggling to find the net at the other end, and the ongoing surprise omission of record signing, Darren Bent, led many to claim it was a club going backwards.

Step forward a certain Christian Benteke - surely one of the signings of the summer - and, suddenly, Villa's fans have a man they believe can lead them to - who knows? - even a place in Europe in 2013.

Benteke has slowly adapted to the demands of the Premier League and the in-form forward is now one of the most feared strikers around.

Seemingly unplayable at his bustling best and able to create goals as well as score them, the Belgian's excellent all-round displays have been one of the highlights of the autumn in the top flight.

His double in the impressive victory at Liverpool in December took his tally for the season to eight in all competitions and his form has justified Lambert's decision to continually leave Bent out of his plans.

For the team as a whole, after a much-improved last few weeks, it now appears Lambert has stamped his mark on a very young side that is now buzzing with confidence.

Bigger tests await for a developing side but Lambert's managerial ability, which was foolishly being questioned early on, should not be underestimated and the future looks bright for Villa - with Benteke leading the way from the front.

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