Smith to return in September

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Smith Set September Comeback Date

Reds boss Sir Alex has praised Alan Smith’s “amazing approach” to his recovery from the broken leg that ended his season, and revealed he has set a September target for his return to action.

The 25-year-old Yorkshireman suffered an horrific double injury against Liverpool in February, dislocating his ankle and breaking his leg.

He is now without the protective cast and even attempted light jogging at United’s Carrington training ground last week.

”Alan may be a bit late for the start of the season,” Sir Alex told Manchester United Radio. “I would think he will be back towards the beginning of September.

”He’s still got a bit of a limp. But he was out on the training ground last week walking around and went for a little jog."

Smith, who is admired by United's fans for his feisty determination on the pitch, is showing a similar attitude to his rehabilitation.

”He’s got an amazing philosophy and approach to his recovery," added Sir Alex. "It doesn’t bother him at all. There is no mental block there at all. He will be back all right.”
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Good news! after all the foot getting amputated talk and "he'll be out for years" the day after the liverpool match, its exciting to know utd will have a bit of bite back in the midfield next season, assuming he'll still play in that role.
 
this is what i think will happen:

ruud will leave, meaning that united will need another striker. instead of buying one they will put smith upfront instead and buy 2 new midfielders..

good news about smith though :)
 
I reckon Smith will be used as a striker again next season and we should get at least 2 central midfielders this summer. Hopefully Smith's return won't hamper Ferguson's already cloudy judgement that we have the players we need and one more midfielder would suffice.

very good news :)
 
I don't rate the guy, either as a midfielder or a striker. What has he got except for aggression? He's paceless and doesn't have any creativity!

I can see him hardly getting a game next season except as a striker in the League Cup.
 
Fiestly yes.

Good in the air and a good right foot. Not the best player int he world but by no means the worse.

I think he scored something like twenty goals(all comps) in a very poor Leeds team that went down
 
I think he is a decent option upfront but I don't rate him at all in midfield. Headless chicken.

If Man U want to challenge Chelsea and win things again they need to do better than Alan Smith in CM.
 
He has been put in midfield because he is aggressive and has heart... unfortunately you need quite bit more than that to be a good CM I'm afraid.
 
I think he did quite well considering he is NOT a midfielder. It's stupid criticising a player who is forced to play out of position in a midfield that has had more changes and line ups than I care to remember. If anyone is to blame or people need to criticise someone look no further than the management that put him there.

He has more heart, determination and drive than any other player we've had in central midfield this season bar Keane.
 
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NokkonWud said:
I would say he had more this season, Keane was caught wandering around a number of times.
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Keane also only played a handful of games before getting injured at Anfield, then leaving before his return from injury in November. But his heart, determination and drive were still there albeit in a different form. :)
 
Smith is a striker but it wouldn't suprise me to see him playing in central midfield again because MU are so weak in that area of the pitch. At the end of the season they have been playing Giggs (winger) and O'Shea (defender) there. The other alternatives are Fletcher (ahem), Scholes (past his best, can't tackle) etc.

I still reckon Rio might be able to hack a defensive midfield role (allowing Vidic & Brown(?) to play CB), but it's a bit of risk moving your best defender out of position I guess.
 
average at best striker, poor midfielder - although compared to fletcher he doesn't look too bad but so would djemba djemba. Complete waste of £10Million by ferguson, he could have bought a real midfielder for that money. He has great determinism, but not much talent.
 
ballistic said:
average at best striker, poor midfielder - although compared to fletcher he doesn't look too bad but so would djemba djemba. Complete waste of £10Million by ferguson, he could have bought a real midfielder for that money. He has great determinism, but not much talent.
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It was £7.5m and he's a great player.
 
NokkonWud said:
It was £7.5m and he's a great player.
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ok £7.5Million then from a relegated side for a player with a worse goalscoring record that Emile Heskey. Signed to play as a striker, then they signed Rooney so Ferguson was forced to play him in midfielder to justify this fee, now Ferguson is looking to sign central midfielders, now that couldn't be because Smith is Oi! Watch your language! there could it?
 
ballistic said:
ok £7.5Million then from a relegated side for a player with a worse goalscoring record that Emile Heskey. Signed to play as a striker, then they signed Rooney so Ferguson was forced to play him in midfielder to justify this fee, now Ferguson is looking to sign central midfielders, now that couldn't be because Smith is Oi! Watch your language! there could it?
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Smith is a far better striker than most clubs have and any team would have him purely for his battling abilites, strong in the air, confident from range. It's not his goals we signed him for, it's his teamwork.
 
NokkonWud said:
Smith is a far better striker than most clubs have and any team would have him purely for his battling abilites, strong in the air, confident from range. It's not his goals we signed him for, it's his teamwork.
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In hindsight , given the unexpected Rooney transfer happened shortly after , do think Fergie still would have signed him?
 
He must've have been bought for his teamwork as he doesn't have that great a scoring record anyhow. He averaged about 1 in 5 at Leeds and in fact he has more yellow cards than he has goals.
 
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