Today’s Steven Gerrard farce has got me thinking about other instances where Liverpool players were looked on favourably by the incompetent FA, while United players have been punished for identical incidents. Below are just a few off the top of my head. I’m sure there are many more.

1. Robbie Fowler celebrates in front of Manchester United fans, showing his  fingers to symbolize their success in Europe. No punishment. Gary Neville kisses the United badge on his shirt in front of Liverpool fans. Fined £5,000 and warned about his future conduct.

2. Steven Gerrard and Neil Mellor sent off in the 2003 Amsterdam tournament. No bans are handed out to the two Liverpool players. Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes are sent off in the 2006 Amsterdam tournament. Both players are forced to sit out the first 3 games of the Premier League season as the FA bans them for the red cards.

3. Javier Mascherano swings an arm at Leeds’ Jermaine Beckford, leaving the striker on the floor. No action was taken by the FA. Weeks later, Rio Ferdinand is involved in an identical incident with Hull’s Craig Fagan. He was banned for 3 games, which was extended to 4 games on appeal.

Today’s decision by the FA to let Steven Gerrard walk free just compounds the problem.

The FA have consistently shown that they’re completely incompetent and incapable of applying the rules properly. And that they continually like to ban Manchester United players while letting Liverpool players off with the exact same offences, and I haven’t even gone into his two fingered salute to the referee last week, another offence he got away with!

Is it so wrong to expect them to actually do their jobs and apply the rules?

The Football Association lost even more credibility today after deciding against charging Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard with violent conduct.

The Phil Collins fan committed what was dubbed a ‘forearm smash’ on Portsmouth’s Michael Brown last night, sending the midfielder crashing to the floor.

Today the FA had the chance to show their consistency, after charging and banning Rio Ferdinand last month for a much lesser offence, but as usual they’ve bottled it.

Sky Sports News are reporting that “Gerrard will not face any action from the FA.

The scouse DJ beater seems to be immune to the laws of the game as well as the laws of the real world. Well done the FA for showing your complete lack of credibility once again. Do the rules only apply to red shirts with devils on them?

Following Rio Ferdinand’s arm swinging incident against Craig Fagan of Hull City last month, we were subjected to replays of the incident every five minutes on Sky Sports News.

The incident was quickly picked up on by the tabloids and the media was consistent in its belief that Ferdinand should be banned. He was charged and banned for 3 games, extended to 4 games on appeal after a successful media witch hunt.

Last night Steven Gerrard committed a much worse offence. He committed what was dubbed a ‘forearm smash’ by ESPN commentators on Portsmouth’s Michael Brown.

I’m no great fan of Michael Brown. After his sickening attempt to break Ryan Giggs’ leg two seasons ago I’d love to have a crack at him myself, but this is about consistency.

Steven Gerrard must be punished for this offence. He escaped punishment for a red card offence last week after sticking two fingers up to the referee after the referee unbelievably stated that he’d seen the incident and didn’t deem it worthy of further punishment. This time though, the FA have to act or they risk showing themselves up to be not just inconsistent but also incompetent.

If the FA are anything like the English justice system; Gerrard will probably escape punishment after arguing that he was getting his retaliation in early, as he did when he cowardly attacked a nightclub DJ.

Van Der Sar – 7 Could have brought his deck chair for this one.

Neville – 7 One momentary lapse in the first half allowing Clint Dempsey to threaten the goal, but after that he was rarely troubled and contributed well to the attack with good crossing.

Vidic – 7 Same as Rio, rarely troubled. Great to see our first choice central defenders finally getting a run of games together though.

Evra – 7 Defended well. Attacked well. Just what we’ve come to expect from him.

Valencia – 5 Subdued display today. Not his usual energetic self and didn’t create much.

Carrick – 6 Drifted in and out of the game. Not at his best but Fulham were not in a position to take advantage.

Fletcher – 7 Another excellent energetic display from the Scot. Didn’t allow Fulham to settle on the ball.

Nani – 8 Excellent display in the first half. Trailed off towards the end of the second half. Would have had a few assists if Berbatov was more clinical.

Rooney – 8 Not overly involved in build up play, but he keeps finding himself in those goalscoring positions so it’s hard to complain.

Berbatov – 9 Fantastic display. Finishing could be better, but his build up play was superb and his assist for Rooney’s second goal was exquisite.

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has his eyes firmly fixed on a fourth consecutive Premier League crown and can’t wait to move ahead of Liverpool on number of titles won.

United currently share the record of 18 league titles with their Merseyside rivals, but are in contention to win number 19 this season, thanks to the form of the Liverpool born forward.

“I’ve always felt the league is the most important one to win, but especially this year. If we do that it will be four on the run, which no one has done before.”

“And we would go above Liverpool’s number of titles so to do it this year would be a big, big moment for everyone at the club.”

The champions have suffered unprecedented injuries this term, at one point having eight senior defenders injured and having to play Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher in central defence, but Rooney believes the squad has coped well with the injuries and has enough quality to get over the finish line ahead of Chelsea.

“We’ve had some injuries but those who have come in have done good jobs. We definitely have a strong enough squad.”

Last season’s title win finally silenced the dippers and threw their famous banner back in their faces. It read, “Au revoir Cantona, come back when you’ve won 18″.

United won number 18, and after winning the Carling Cup a few weeks ago became the most domestically successful club in England.

Van der Sar – 7 Commanded his area well. One save from a David Beckham volley stood out for me.

Neville – 7 Needed Fletcher to cover for him at times. Got into some good positions, crossing often let him down, but the one for Rooney’s opening goal was inch perfect.

Ferdinand – 8 Never gave the Milan strikers a sniff of goal. A rock at the back.

Vidic – 7 Played well alongside Rio. Dominated aerially.

Evra – 7 Somewhat subdued compared to his usual performances, but still got forward well and didn’t have too much to worry him at the back. Looks tired.

Valencia – 7 A constant threat down the right wing.

Fletcher – 8 Dominated the midfield as well as covering for Neville against Ronaldinho.

Scholes – 7 The aging Milan midfield allowed him to dictate the pace of the game.

Nani – 6 not his best game. Struggled in the first half. Much better in the second half. his pass to setup Rooney’s second goal was exquisite.

Park – 7 Chased Milan’s players all game. Ran his socks off for the cause and scored a goal too.

Rooney – 8 unstoppable at the moment. Two goals take his tally to 30 for the season. Can he match Ronaldo’s 42?

Sir Alex Ferguson believes former Old Trafford hero David Beckham is unlikely to start for Ac Milan at Old Trafford tonight.

The Manchester United boss saw his team win in the San Siro in February and will host the Italian giants in Manchester tonight.

Beckham started the first leg, but has not not made the starting lineup for Milan since.

“He has not started a game since the last time he played us,” the United manager pointed out. “I don’t know if Beckham will play. I haven’t got him down in my conclusions.”

Whether this is a ploy by the United manager remains to be seen.

According to various sources in Belgium, Manchester United have signed promising young full back Marnick Vermijl on a 3 year deal from Standard Liege.

The 18 year old, from Belgium, was reportedly scouted several times by United this season, and the final decision was made by Sir Alex Ferguson and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after being impressed watching DVD’s of him.

Vermijl was allegedly banned from training with Standard Liege after they became aware of his discussions with Manchester United.

The English Champions will apparently pay 220,000 Euro’s to Standard Liege to secure his services.

More details as and when they arrive.

When the story of the bond issue broke in January, Manchester United Supporters Trust membership stood at around a paltry 30,000. That number had almost doubled in the two months following because of the repercussions of the financial details released. Yesterday morning the figure stood at 54,000.

Following a huge push by Manchester United fans to urge friends, relatives and any United fan they know to join MUST – prompted by an appearance on Sky Sports News by Chief Exec Duncan Drasdo – numbers have risen by over 30,000 in the last 24 hours.

The move has been boosted by blogs like this one and United Rant urging members to join, and forums like redcafe  and redissue doing the same.

Drasdo stated yesterday that the Red Knights wanted a show of faith from the United faithful to know for sure that they had our support. He suggested that MUST membership would have to rise to 100,000 for it to be a big enough show of faith.

I am confident that number will be reached easily within the next day or two, but 30,000 members in 24 hours is MUST’s busiest ever day and should not be played down. In fact the website crashed several times due to the sheer number of visitors and new registrations it was receiving.

If you were unable to register yesterday, please try again today. And if you still haven’t received your activation email, please be patient.

More importantly, keep spreading the link around and encouraging the United fans you know to register and give their backing to the Red Knights.

Join MUST today!

The elusive Red Knights convened in London yesterday to discuss their proposed takeover of Manchester United. Deal broker Keith Harris, chairman of investment bankers Seymour Pierce, and Jim O’Neill, chief economist at Goldman Sachs are known to be two of the men involved in the bid, and Duncan Drasdo, Chief Executive of MUST appeared on Sky Sports News this afternoon to speak about the meeting.

While not wanting to give too much away, Drasdo said the Red Knights are definitely interested in moving forward with the proposal, but want a show of faith fro the Manchester United fans before moving forward with plans.

How can you show your faith? It’s simple. Join MUST. At the time of writing, the membership number stands at 54,186. Drasdo and the Red Knights want that number to climb to around the 100,000 mark.

Two months ago that figure was as low as 30,000. So if it can almost double in a matter of months, then surely we can get it over 100,000 with the coverage it gained on Sky Sports News today.

You can also help by encouraging friends and relatives to join too.

Do you own a website or a blog? Put up a banner or a link to MUST to encourage your visitors to sign up. It takes about 30 seconds to do and it completely free.

Join MUST today!

Patrice Evra has become the first Manchester United player to back the fans protests against the Glazer regime.

The French left back spoke after he Carling Cup final win against Aston Villa, and while he didn’t mention Glazer directly, he hinted that he is aware of the fans concerns regarding the current owners and acknowledges the reasons why they have recently been wearing the green and gold of Newton Heath.

“They are the original colours of Manchester United, and the fans wear them because they love this club,” he told the Blomberg News Agency.

“They have their reasons for doing it and we don’t think that they are crazy. They’d like things to change.”

The wording of his comments suggest he’s not alone in backing our right to protest. His use of the word “we” seems to imply that other players in the squad share his opinion.

With reports suggesting the Glazer’s are maintaining their stance of “Manchester United is not for sale“, any publicity is good publicity for the campaign to rid United of the Glazer’s, particularly when it comes from one of the team’s most influential players.

Gary Neville believes winning the Carling Cup final win can be a springboard to further success this season.

If last season is anything to go by, Neville has a strong case. After winning the cup last February, United went on to win an 18th league title and reach the final of the Champions League.

It was also the first trophy won by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney in their United careers, and the taste of success led to 3 consecutive league titles and a host of other trophies along the way.

“People may say it’s the lesser of the cup competitions but I think this can be a springboard for us to go on and be more successful,” Neville told MUTV. “It’s proved to be in previous years and hopefully it will be again this season.”

“This competition has been really good to us in the last few years, and it’s great to get a medal around your neck this early in the season,” added Neville.

The United skipper insists they can’t afford to get caught up in the joy of winning the Carling Cup with so many important games still to play.

If it was the last game in the season, we’d all be delirious. But there’s so much still to play for.

“We go to Wolves on Saturday, hopefully with all our players back fit from the internationals, and then we’ve obviously got a big game against Milan.

“Fulham and Liverpool are coming up too and we have to win every game in the league. Nobody’s pulling away in the title race but now it’s time for us to step up and go for it.”

The class of Chelsea fans sunk to new depths today during their match with Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. Rather than sympathize with former player Wayne Bridge for the humiliation and heartache he’s suffered thanks to Chelsea captain John Terry, they chose to boo the left back whenever he came near the ball.

Tensions are obviously still high between Terry and Bridge as indicated by the non handshake before kick off. Terry put his hand out to shake Bridge’s hand, but the City player blanked the disgraced former England captain and walked right past him.

When the game kicked off there were boos and whistles for Bridge, who was the innocent victim in the whole scandal involving his ex Vanessa Perroncel. Most fans would recognize this and leave Bridge alone, but Chelsea fans, classless as they are, chose to show as much respect as their big man™ captain JT. Utterly despicable, but not altogether surprising.

Thankfully their team got a pasting on the pitch thanks to two goals each from Craig Bellamy and mercenary Carlos Tevez, giving us a huge boost to our title hopes.

Craig Bellamy told Sky Sports what he thought of Terry in his post match interview.

“I think you guys make a lot more of it, you know, em, I know what JT’s like, and nothing surprises me about him, so I’m not going to comment on that guy, em, I think everyone in football knows what the guy’s like.”

Click here to see Bridge snub Terry.

Sir Alex Ferguson could be forced to face the BBC cameras under a new Premier League rule that requires every manager to participate in post match interviews for UK broadcasters.

Rule Q17 in full, states that: “With effect from season 2010/11, all managers are required to attend in person and participate in post-match interviews held by or for the benefit of a UK broadcaster or radio broadcaster and failure to do so without just cause shall be a breach of these rules.”

Sir Alex has not spoken to the BBC since a Panorama programme which implied there were improper goings on between the club and his son Jason Ferguson, who was working as a football agent at the time.

Failure to abide by the new ruling could land Ferguson in trouble with the Premier League, who could impose sanctions on the Manchester United manager.

England manager Fabio Capello has warned Michael Owen that he cannot name him in his World Cup squad if he isn’t playing enough football at club level.

The Manchester United striker has struggled to force his way into Sir Alex Ferguson’s starting line up this season, partly because of the form of team mate Wayne Rooney, and partly because the united boss has often opted to play a 4-5-1 formation with no room for a second striker.

“He is one of the best English goalscorers of all-time but if he doesn’t play, I cannot pick him,” the England manager told The Telegraph.

Only a few days ago I wrote 5 reasons why Michael Owen was a poor signing. Rightly or wrongly, his inability to break into the first team on a consistent basis has made it impossible for Capello to select him. And with Rooney showing no signs of ending his scoring spree, it looks as though Owen may be watching the World Cup from his settee.

Wayne Rooney expressed his delight last night after another masterful performance for Manchester United. The striker scored two goals in the 3-0 win over West Ham and dominated the game from the front.

With 27 goals already, Rooney is enjoying his most prolific season in a United shirt and is hoping his form continues to the end of the season. He did admit though that it’s frustrating being substituted when chasing a hat trick, but that he understands the manager’s reasons for doing so.

“I am just enjoying playing and scoring goals,” he told Sky Sports.

“Hopefully it continues but I have never really set targets.”

Asked if it’s frustrating to be brought off, he said: “A little bit but you can understand the manager’s thinking and I’ve no problems with that tonight.”

Rooney also praised fellow goalscorer Michael Owen, who scored United’s third after replacing Dimitar Berbatov. The former Liverpool and Newcastle striker has made just two starts since scoring a hat trick away to Wolfsburg in the Champions League, but Rooney still believes he’ll have a big part to play in the title run in and in Europe.

“It was a great run and great finish and I’m pleased for him because he hasn’t played a lot of football, especially over the last few months, but he showed what he can do.

“He’ll be a big player for us between now and the end of the season. We know what he gives to the team and he’s a great player for us.”

After missing out on last season’s Carling Cup final victory against Tottenham through illness, Rooney is hoping Sir Alex names him in his squad to face Aston Villa at Wembley on Saturday.

“Obviously I missed it last year because I was a bit ill before the game so I didn’t play but hopefully I can play this year,” he said.

Foster – 7 He was only called into action on a couple of occasions, but dealt with everything that came his way. Kicking is still suspect.

Neville – 7 One of his better performances recently. West Ham’s reluctance to attack left Neville free to get forward and he did, to good effect.

Brown – 7 Nothing to trouble him.

Vidic – 7 Dominant aerially, but like Brown was never really troubled.

Evra – 6 Still looks tired and didn’t contribute an awful lot going forward, but put in some good tackles to keep West Ham quiet down his flank.

Valencia – 8 A constant threat down the right wing. His pace was too much for the poor West Ham defence and he set up both of Rooney’s goals.

Gibson – 7 Threatened to open the scoring on several occasions in the first half and passed the ball well. Drifted out of the game towards the end.

Scholes – 7 It was all too easy for him. He was given so much time on the ball that he was able to dictate the tempo of the game.

Anderson – 5 Subbed of early on with an injury. Didn’t look good.

Berbatov – 7 Involved in a lot of the build up play and takes a huge slice of credit for both of Rooney’s goals. He fed Valencia who in turn fed Rooney.

Rooney – 9 Man of the match. He’s making this goalscoring lark look easy. Another two headed goals from the lad and a dominating display to match.

Subs:

Park – 7 Came on to good effect for the injured Anderson. Kept possession well and put in some good tackles to win it back.

Owen – 6 Scored within moments of coming on. Not much else to report.

Diouf – 5 No impact.

Manchester United play Host to West Ham this evening after a crushing 3-1 defeat at the hands of Everton in their last Premier League outing.

The Champions will be hoping to bounce back in style after the disappointing result at Goodison Park, by beating a West Ham side currently just 4 points above the relegation zone.

United are expected to welcome Rio Ferdinand back into the starting lineup after serving his 4 match ban for violent conduct, alongside Nemanja Vidic who has been absent with a nerve problem. The pair will bring much needed composure to the back line after recent nervy performances by stand-ins Wes Brown and Jonny Evans.

West Ham come to Old Trafford on the back of successive victories against Hull and Birmingham, but boss Gianfranco Zola has hinted that he may make changes.

United are clear favourites for the game, as usual at Old Trafford, but also because West Ham haven’t won an away game since the opening day of the season against Wolves. United beat West Ham convincingly at Upton Park in December.

Having already lost ground on Chelsea in the race for the title, United can’t afford another slip up tonight or they risk gifting the league leaders crucial breathing space. A win tonight puts them one point behind Chelsea who don’t play again until Saturday when they host Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.

Squads

Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, Neville, Brown, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Park, Anderson, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher, Obertan, Gibson, Rooney, Owen, Berbatov, Diouf.

West Ham (from): Green, Stech, Spector, Faubert, Upson, Tomkins, Da Costa, Daprela, Parker, Behrami, Kovac, Collison, Noble, Diamanti, Stanislas, Cole, Mido, Ilan, Franco, McCarthy.

The foundation of any title winning team is built firmly on the shoulders of a solid centre back pairing. From the early days of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign it was evident that he also shared this philosophy.

Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister were the foundation for much of our early Premier League successes, while Ronny Johnsen and Jaap Stam starred in the famous treble winning side of 1999. More recently, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have forged arguably the best central defensive pairing in world football, propelling Manchester United to 3 consecutive Premier League titles and back to back Champions League finals.

That foundation has been rocked this season by the losses of both Vidic and Ferdinand for sustained periods. Vidic has played a part in 13 Premier League games this season, while England captain Ferdinand has managed just 6.

Last season saw the emergence of Jonny Evans as one of the brighter prospects in football, putting in assured performances against top class opposition and displaying maturity beyond his years. One of the reasons for his form was that he had the class and experience of either Vidic or Ferdinand beside him to show him the way and give him a sense of calmness. With both of his usual partners missing from the tem, Evans has been forced to play alongside Wes Brown, who before this season hadn’t had a sustained run in the centre of defence for over 2 years, and it shows.

On top of that, United have been unable to maintain the kind of consistency they’d like in the goalkeeping department. First choice Edwin Van der Sar has managed just 11 appearance thus far, while Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczac have mustered 8 each. For a team with title ambitions that is a major spanner in the works.

This kind of inconsistency and chopping and changing of the defence affects morale, affects consistency of performances and even affects other areas of the team. For example, without Rio Ferdinand’s calmness on the ball and ability to dribble out of defence and feed the midfielders, we’ve often resorted to pumping the ball up the pitch, often conceding possession when 6ft+ centre halves out-jump lone front man Wayne Rooney.

Our most common centre back pairing this season is Evans and Brown, and with just 9 appearances together all season it gives you an idea of the scale of the crisis we’ve been thorough and are continuing to go through. Indeed I don’t know of any other team that would be able to play their two first choice midfielders in defence and still maintain a challenge domestically and in Europe.

Take John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho out of the Chelsea defence and put Hilario in net and you’ll see a remarkably weaker team. Similarly, take Gallas, Vermaelen and Almunia from Arsenal and you’ll see the same.

Now put Michael Essien and Frank Lampard in Chelsea’s defence and Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song in Arsenal’s. I think you see what I’m getting at. Not only is the defence significantly weaker, but the effect of playing your two best midfielders at the back has a knock on effect on your ability to retain possession and create chances in the middle of the park. No creativity = no service to the forwards and ultimately a lack of goals.

So it’s no surprise that United have failed to dominate the league this year. To still be within shot of Chelsea despite an injury crisis of epic proportions is an astonishing feat by the coaches and the players. And if we finish the season empty handed I’ll still be able to look back on the season knowing we battled against adversity until the very end.

Following the 3-1 defeat to Everton on Saturday, Michael Carrick isn’t getting too downhearted. The midfielder admits the result was shocking, but believes it was just a blip and United can still retain the title.

The defeat shouldn’t really have come as a huge surprise. Everton have found their form at just the right (or wrong depending on who you support) stage of the season. David Moyes’ men headed into the game on the back of impressive results against Portuguese side Sporting and league leaders Chelsea.

And while Manchester United have been in impressive form in the league since the turn of the year, their make shift back four has shown to be an Achilles heal on numerous occasions against teams that don’t just sit back and play for a draw. Whenever teams attack United they’ve looked vulnerable without the assured class of Rio Ferdinand and the all action style of Nemanja Vidic.

Nevertheless, 3 points were lost in the race for the title and Chelsea capitalized by beating Wolves at Molineux, but Carrick insists the title race is far from over, and rightly so. Both teams will drop points in the run in, that much is inevitable, and with Chelsea still to visit Old Trafford in April, he has every reason to be upbeat despite the setback.

Victories against Manchester City at Old Trafford and AC Milan in the San Siro, as well as the demolition of Portsmouth and the comprehensive sweeping aside of Arsenal at The Emirates stadium give Carrick the belief that United will respond to the defeat in true United fashion, by bouncing back with a succession of victories to keep the pressure of Chelsea at the top.

“We have had some massive games in the last month and played really well over that period of time,” Carrick told Sky Sports.

“That is why Saturday was such a shock. I suppose we have to look at it as a one-off. We are certainly not getting too down about things.

“We have to bounce back but the manner of our performances over the past few weeks leads us to believe we can do it again.”

Carrick will have the chance to take on his former club West Ham in United’s next game. He acknowledges the important part West Ham played in his career as a professional footballer, but will be keeping his emotions in check when they take to the field at Old Trafford tomorrow night.

“West Ham gave me my chance,” he said. “They took me away from home, taught me a lot of things and guided me through.

“They gave me a chance in the first team, so I have a lot to thank them for. I still have a lot of friends there who I like to see when I go back.

“But, obviously, when we kick off it is business as usual and I am desperate to get the win.”

Here are my 5 reasons why I believe Michael Owen was a poor signing. If you disagree, feel free to abuse me in the comments.

1. He isn’t playing enough

We were led to believe Owen would be used sparingly. His injury record over the last few years has made Louis Saha look like the Iron Man, so Sir Alex was expected to rest Owen’s aging legs as often as he could. The problem is he’s barely used at all. Since scoring a hat trick against Wolfsburg he’s found his way into the starting line up twice. That’s twice in 16 games. For a player Sir Alex expected would score 15 goals this season, he simply hasn’t been used enough.

2. He makes no impact off the bench

For a player touted as having “a goal in him”, he rarely makes an impact when brought on as a substitute. The ‘impact sub’ role has been his this season, with Sir Alex throwing him on towards the end of games because of his fox in the box abilities and a tendency to be in the right place at the right time. We haven’t seen this though. Apart from THAT goal against Manchester City in injury time at Old Trafford he’s been largely ineffective as a sub.

3. He doesn’t do enough for the team

Some of the top strikers in the world like Fernando Torres need not contribute anything to the build up play of attacking moves. Their ability to get themselves on the end of the move is what keeps them in a job and it more than makes up for their deficiencies in other areas. Michael Owen used to be one of those players, but not anymore. He contributes nothing to the build up play, and rarely finishes off our attacking moves. His finishing ability has been on show sporadically, but not often enough. An argument could be made that he’s not getting enough playing time, and it’s a point of view I happen to share, but you have to put yourself in the shoes of the manager who watches Owen in training everyday and if he isn’t seeing enough quality to put him in the starting line up then we have to trust his judgement.

4. The gamble failed

Ferguson took a risk in signing Michael Owen. His injury record has been bad over the last few years as I mentioned above, so anyone willing to sign him was putting their neck on the line. As it happened we signed him on a pay as you play basis, so the risk is relatively low in monetary terms, but it’s not risk free in terms of how it affects the team. You could argue that even if he scored no goals this season it wouldn’t matter as there was no transfer fee and no signing on fee, but you’d be wrong. What if signing Owen prevented us bringing in a better striker? If Owen wasn’t here, the chances are that Danny Welbeck wouldn’t have been sent on loan to Preston and he’d be our impact sub instead, gaining valuable game time and training with the senior team on a regular basis. Instead, he’s stuck in the Championship with Preston North End.

5. Fergie made a mistake

It’s rare, but it happens. From Kleberson and Liam miller, to Veron and the Djemba twins. Sir Alex has been known to make mistakes in the transfer market. Although it looks like Owen was signed with the best of intentions, it now appears that it was a mistake to sign him. Owen wanted to prove himself and break into the World Cup squad for the Summer in South Africa. Fergie wanted a decent back up striker for Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov. For whatever reason, neither will be satisfied with the current situation. Barring an injury crisis of epic proportions, Owen has zero chance of boarding a plane with the rest of Fabio Capello’s men this Summer, and Sir Alex doesn’t have an able backup to Rooney.

Disclaimer: I’d be fecking delighted if this article was thrown back in my face in May after Owen scores the winning goal in the European Cup final. Unfortunately that’s very unlikely.

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that he still keeps in contact with Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, and that the Portugueser texted him to tell him he misses him.

Sir Alex had texted Ronaldo to wish him a happy 24th birthday. The way he responded could give some fans hope that he may one day return to Old Trafford after realizing the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

“I got a text from him last week saying: I miss you so much’. sir Alex said”

“I’d texted him to say happy birthday. He was 24. And he said he missed me, and ‘thanks for all the kind things you’re saying about me.’ You appreciate things like that.”

Van Der Sar – 6 Not at fault for any of the goals, but no impressive saves to note.

Neville – 5 Showed that his crossing ability is still fantastic, but his defensive ability leaves a lot to be desired. Completely flat footed when Donovan threaded the ball through to Pienaar to setup Dan Gosling for the second goal.

Brown – 6 Dealt with most things that came his way on the ground, but struggled aerially when the long balls were pumped up to Saha.

Evans – 5 Looks like a completely average defender when he doesn’t have the experience of Ferdinand or Vidic beside him. Needs to get back to basics; don’t let the ball bounce and if in doubt boot it out.

Evra – 6 Looks tired. Hasn’t got forward as well recently and appears sluggish when tracking back.

Valencia – 6 His pace caused problems for Leighton Baines early on, but his delivery was often poor, apart from his low cross for the opening goal.

Fletcher – 6 Passing was poor and he wasn’t his usual domineering self. Left chasing shadows at times.

Carrick – 6 Similar to Fletcher. Didn’t take hold of the game and influence it like he should be doing. Looks far more at home in a 3 man midfield these days.

Berbatov 6 – Expertly taken goal and plenty of possession, but he slowed the game down too much and had little impact after scoring.

Rooney – 5 A game to forget for the ex Evertonian.

Everton emerged as deserved winners at Goodison Park today in a match Manchester United needed at least a point from if they were to put pressure on Chelsea at the top of the league.

The visitors opened the scoring through Dimitar Berbatov early on, but Diniyar Bilayetdinov equalized minutes later and second half goals from substitutes Dan Gosling and Jack Rodell put the match beyond United.

The United fans started in good voice, before being drowned out by Everton fans claiming for every decision (presumably perfecting this technique at the dole office) and booing every decision that went against them. That’s my only criticism of Everton today though as on the pitch they were fantastic and were good value for their win.

Buoyed by the form of American loanee Landon Donovan and the recent return  of midfield maestro Mikel Arteta, the Merseyside team showed desire and determination to take the game to United from the start. They challenged for every loose ball and won the majority of them as United’s midfield looked sluggish and at times disinterested.

The opener came after Antonio Valencia drilled the ball into the Everton box and Dimitar Berbatov’s instant control and shot left goalkeeper Tim Howard with no chance. No sooner had United taken the lead as Everton fired back. A long ball was badly dealt with by Jonny Evans and Bilyaletdinov brought it down, used Wes Brown to block Edwin Van Der Sar’s sight and rifled a brilliant shot into the bottom corner.

This is usually when United pick up the pace and turn the screw, but it was the home side that finished the half stronger and the United defence welcomed the half time whistle when referee Howard Webb obliged.

The second half started in much the same vein as the first had ended. Everton were not content with a point and pressed for the equalizer. Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick struggled to get anything going in midfield, meaning Wayne Rooney and strike partner Berbatov looked increasingly isolated up front.

Paul Scholes and Gabriel Obertan were introduced after 65 minutes for Dimitar Berbatov and the ineffective (again) Park Ji Sung. Everton manager David Moyes also made a change with Dan Gosling coming on for goalscorer Bilyaletdinov.

It was the Everton sub who made the biggest impact though, getting on the end of Steven Pienaar’s cross to give Everton the lead on 76 minutes.

United launched a fightback but still couldn’t force their way through the impressive Everton defence. Rooney’s free kick late on could have set up a nervy finish if not for the deflection that took it narrowly wide, but Everton’s other substitute Rodwell put the game beyond doubt after waltzing unchallenged to the edge of the area and firing a low shot past Van Der Sar to make it 3-1.

It’s a big opportunity lost for Manchester United, and 3 points for Everton whose hard work and determination means they walk away from the game as worthy winners.

Manchester United line up

Van der Sar

G Neville
Brown
Evans
Evra

Valencia
Fletcher
Carrick
Park

Berbatov
Rooney

Subs

Foster

Rafael

Vidic

Owen

Scholes

Gibson

Obertan

Everton line up

Howard

Neville
Heitinga
Distin
Baines

Donovan
Arteta
Osman
Pienaar
Billyaletdinov

Saha

Subs:

Nash

Yobo

Coleman

Gosling

Rodwell

Vaughan

Yakubu

The green and gold campaign organized by Manchester United fans as a protest against the rising debt levied on the club by the Glazer family has finally found its was to Sir Alex Ferguson’s door.

The United boss has seen growing numbers of fans wearing the club’s founding colours at Old Trafford, but has until now remained quiet on the subject, but he has now chosen to comment on the protests, insisting, “It’s not a concern to me.”

“It doesn’t matter what colours they wear, they’re still supporting the one team. It just shows we have fans who care for the club.

“Every fan has a right to complain about what they think is right but we also have to run the club the way we think is the right way and I think we are doing the right thing with the club.

“The foundation of the club is just the same as it has been for the last few years.” (Except for the hundreds of millions of pounds of debt eh?)

“We have a good youth set-up, the first team are doing well and that’s what concerns me more than anything.

“Obviously there are fans protesting and we understand where it is coming from but we carry on with the football side of it.

“I’ve made my point to the supporters as long as it doesn’t interrupt or interfere with the progress of the team and I think they realise that too.”

In truth his comments are as positive as they could be. He can’t be seen to be actively encouraging the protests because the Glazer’s are his employers and it wouldn’t be a wise move, but at the same time he answered diplomatically and didn’t criticize the fans.

On the contrary his comment that “It just shows we have fans who care” is more than what was to be expected. In the past, Glazer protesters have been told to “f*ck off and support Chelsea”, so I’m just grateful he hasn’t said anything negative.

The green and gold campaign is getting more coverage in the national press, and the fact that the manager of the team has talked about it shows that we’re doing a good job. So keep up the good work, wear your green and gold and keep the anti-Glazer chants going.

Nigel De Jong’s recent comments in the press have exposed him as a true Manchester City player by emulating the delusion of their fans.

The combative midfielder has been in good form for the bitters this season, but appears to have had one or two knocks on the head judging by his latest words.

“I noticed from the moment I arrived in Manchester how many Blues there were compared to Reds,” he told the club’s official website.

It’s a strange comment for a number of reasons.

The first reason being that it simply isn’t true by any stretch of the imagination.

The second being that City regularly fail to fill their stadium. If there are so many City fans walking around on a daily basis why are they not in the council house on match days?

The third and most telling reason why De Jong’s comments are full of delusion is that Manchester United have enjoyed higher attendance figures than their bitter neighbours for over 70 years. This included periods out of the top flight and even several years where United shared Maine Road with City. That’s right, we had higher attendances than them in their own stadium!

So a big well done to Nigel De Jong for playing up to the berties and admitting to the world that he’s as deluded as they are.

Sir Alex Ferguson believes Rafael Da Silva will be a better player, following the lesson in football given to him by fellow Brazilian Ronaldinho.

The young right back was at fault on numerous occasions as Ronaldinho rolled back the years to produce some of his best form in United’s 2-3 win at the San Siro on Tuesday, but Ferguson insists he needs to experience games like this if he’s to develop into the player he expects him to.

“Ronaldinho has always had a great talent. His game dropped away for a year or so, but he is back to his best now and he was a handful for a young player like Rafael,” said Ferguson.

“The reason I played him was quite simple, though. Namely, that we have invested in a great future with him and we were not going to stop the rewards of that because we were playing AC Milan.

“He has to learn and, against Ronaldinho, he will have quickly discovered that this is the real world.

“He made some mistakes, but he won’t make them next season. He will eradicate those mistakes because the boy is an outstanding talent.”

David Beckham shows why he’s still loved by the United faithful.

Van der Sar – 9 Kept us in the game with key saves in the first half. One excellent stop from a Pirlo free kick stood out. Not at fault for either goal.

Rafael – 5 Still a lot to learn. Lost possession cheaply and then was out of position for the Seedorf goal. We were then on the back foot for the remainder of a game when we should have been cruising.

Evans – 6 Terrible in the first half. Got his act together after a rollocking from Ferguson.

Rio – 7 Played well, despite Evans’ mistakes.

Evra – 6 Not at his best, but still contributed well to the attack. Undone by Pato on a few occasions.

Carrick – 7 Didn’t start well, but pulled himself together and dominated the midfield in the second half alongside Fletcher.

Fletcher – 8 Dominant performance from Fletch. Didn’t give the Milan midfield  time to breathe.

Scholes – 6 Very sloppy in the first half. Very lucky goal that deflected off his standing leg.

Park – 5 I still don’t believe he’s a real footballer.

Nani – 6 Not his best game. Crossing was poor and he was wasteful in possession. Tracked back well to help out Rafael.

Rooney – 9 Isolated in the first half, but came alive in the second and dominated milan’s back line single handedly. Two excellent headers to win the game from good crosses by Valencia and Fletcher.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has moved to end speculation linking Nemanja Vidic with a Summer move away from Old Trafford.

The Serbian defender hasn’t played any of United’s games in 2010 and was also absent from the flight to Italy to play AC Milan.

The tabloids have used this to suggest he’s unsettled at the club and will seek a move to one of the Spanish giants, Real Madrid or Barcelona, but Ferguson insists there’s nothing in the rumours.

“It’s pure speculation. We get that from time to time and we just have to deal with it,” he told manutd.com.

“A lot of clubs want to buy our players. We want him to stay, of course. He’s a great player and one of the best centre-backs in the world.”

Vidic has trained with United for the last ten days, which seems to suggest the centre back’s problem with returning to the team are purely mental, but Ferguson insists he’ll be patient with him and bring him back when he’s ready.

“It’s a difficult one because Nemanja feels like he needs a lot of training,” said Sir Alex.

“He’s trained for the last ten days but still doesn’t feel ready to take part in any games. We must be patient with the situation and that’s what we are doing.”

Ryan Giggs believes former team mate David Beckham can play on at the highest level for another four years.

The former Manchester United star is now at Italian side AC Milan, who United will play in the Champions League on Tuesday, and Giggs believes the way he has looked after himself means he can prolong his career beyond that of other players.

Both players are known for looking after their bodies off the pitch. And both have maintained their fitness to play at the highest level into their mid-thirties. Giggs though, has always shied away from the limelight whereas Beckham has thrived on it. Giggs says this hasn’t affected their friendship.

“We are different in the sense he has been in the limelight, front page and back, while I prefer to keep myself to myself,” said Giggs.

“But I still speak to him. He has not changed as a person.

“He has always loved football. He has always been dedicated and that is still the same now.

“Like myself, Becks looks after himself.

“He is naturally fit and is a natural athlete, so I am not surprised he is still going at all.

“In fact I reckon he will keep going for another three or four years.”

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo has hinted that he could one day return to Manchester United.

The superstar insists he’s happy in Madrid, but also misses everything about playing for United, including the manager, the players and the fans.

“Of course I miss playing for Manchester United,” Ronaldo told The News of the World. “I played there for six years and that’s a long time.

“I am still interested in watching Manchester United and, you never know, maybe in the future I could return to play there. It’s always possible.”

“I want to fulfil my contract here but, in the future, only God knows,” Ronaldo added. “I will not say I am not happy here at Real Madrid.

“I am really happy and everyone knows this is my club but, of course, I miss Manchester United, the boss, the players, because I left family there.”

Patrice Evra has revealed that he aims to make David Beckham’s return to Old Trafford an unhappy one.

The Manchester United left back will come up against the United legend in the Champions League, and even though he’s pleased Beckham has the chance to return to his old stomping ground, he believes he’ll be able to give him a tough time on the pitch.

“I will say welcome to Beckham but I will make sure he doesn’t have an easy game.

“I am happy for him about this draw, because he did a lot for ­Manchester ­United and I know he wanted to play again against us.

“I have met him and he is a good person – a real gentleman.

“I’m sure all his old ­team-mates are looking ­forward to welcoming him back to Old Trafford when we play the second leg.

“But I’m looking forward more to playing against Milan, because they are more than just Beckham.”

Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy was reportedly assaulted by a Manchester United fan last weekend outside a bar in Cheshire.

The outspoken forward was allegedly struck from behind by the fan and fell to the floor holding his head, and the attacker was moved on by club doormen.

A witness told The Mirror: “He whacked him from behind and Craig fell to the floor. Bouncers jumped in straight away and the guy was carted off.”

Bellamy is no stranger to cowardly attacks. He assaulted a defenceless Manchester United fan while stewards held his arms behind his back during United’s 4-3 win over noisy neighbours City. And was hit by a coin during his team’s Carling Cup defeat to United.

Is karma coming back to haunt Craig? Or has his mouth finally got him into trouble?

The power of internet message boards has been revealed again this week, with a certain Mr. David Gill on the end of an uncomfortable question and answer session.

Over the last few weeks we’ve seen how powerful internet forums can be. The green and gold campaign has gained national news coverage after being started by an administrator on Red Issue Manchester United forum

This time the instigator time wishes to remain anonymous, but his message has been heard loud and clear.

David Gill was speaking at an event at Birmingham university on Thursday, and when leaving he was confronted by the angry Manchester United fan.

He was asked why he had backtracked on his statement from 2004 in which he stated, “debt is the road to ruin”.

As we showed yesterday his current stance has changed quite a lot, with him trying to tell us we “should be proud of what’s happening at Manchester United“.

Gill faced more uncomfortable questions to which he could give no credible answers.

The conversation was recorded by another man who also wishes to remain anonymous, and it has made its way into the national newspapers, just as the green and gold protests have.

The conversation has so far been featured on the following websites.

Daily Mail

Guardian

The Times

The Telegraph

The Independent

The Sun

The Glazer regime has long been a subject of anger for many Manchester United fans. Others were of the ‘wait and see’ persuasion, while some were just plain ignorant of what was going on. What’s clear now though is that there is a growing army of Manchester United fans who have woken up and realized that the Glazer’s are cancerous leeches that are sucking our football club dry.

Gone are the days of quiet discontent. Now we hear anti Glazer songs at every home and away game and thousands fill the stands wearing green and gold. Without wanting to sound overly dramatic, the revolution IS in full flow and it appears it will only get stronger as more and more fans pick up on it.

Responding to criticism of the enormous debt the club is in, Chief Executive David Gill said, “people should be proud of what’s happening at Manchester United”. Have a read of these numbers and then see how proud you feel.

£716m – The debt as of February 2010.

£290  – The amount spent on interest and legal fees to service the debt as of June 2009.

£45m – Annual interest, from 2010 onwards.

£10m – Personal loans to the Glazer family from Manchester United.

£13m – The amount paid to the Glazer family in consultancy and management fees.

£6m – Net transfer spend since 2005. Just to be clear, this is not a yearly figure, this is the total net sum Manchester United have spent on players since the Glazer family took over.

50% – The average rise in ticket prices since 2005.

£0 – The amount of money spent on Manchester United from the Glazer’s pockets.

Are you proud of what’s happening at Manchester United like David Gill suggests you should be? If you are then you’re a numpty who shouldn’t be allowed near computers for your own safety. If not, do something about it today.

Wear green and gold to Old Trafford. Spread the word to other United fans about what the Glazer family has done and is still doing to our great club. Join the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST). Copy and paste these figures to forums, websites, anywhere you can.

The green and gold army is growing and will continue to grow until the Glazer’s have sold up and moved on. Join the revolution and help turn Manchester United into something you can truly be proud of.

Everton striker Louis Saha is hoping his former club can beat rivals Chelsea to the Premier League crown again this year.

The ex Manchester United forward would love Everton to win the league, but after acknowledging that that’s unlikely to happen, he selected united as the team he’d like to be crowned Champions in May.

“If you ask me who’s going to win the title, I’d love to say Everton, but obviously that’s not going to happen, and if not, then I would like to see United do it again,” Saha said.

“I think it will be tight between the top two. Chelsea are very strong, but I think United are better – and personally I would be delighted if they won it. I’d definitely prefer that.

Saha also revealed he still keeps in touch with his old team mates, but thinks he’ll be getting a few more phone calls after scoring twice in a 2-1 win against Chelsea yesterday.

“I still keep in touch with a lot of them from United, especially Patrice Evra. Wayne Rooney and Owen Hargreaves are on the phone a lot, and they’ve got a really good bunch of guys. But this morning I will probably have more messages and calls than ever.

“I know I will be getting a lot of calls now, and it is a big boost for my old club that Chelsea has lost. But the main thing has to be Everton, and taking us as high up the table as possible.”

After getting over a frustrating spell in his Old Trafford career, Nani has been turning on the style of late and showing us all what he’s capable of.

The promise was always there after notching 15 assists in his debut season, but he suffered with ’second season syndrome’ and struggled to make his mark in the 2008/2009 campaign.

After being given another chance by boss Sir Alex Ferguson he has really grabbed the bull by the horns.

With his dominating displays against Hull, Man City, Portsmouth and Arsenal, the Portuguese winger has given Ferguson a real selection headache and is likely to be a key figure in the run in for the title.

Nani himself is just pleased to be making headlines for the right reasons. Rumours of his departure from United haven’t helped, but he believes his recent performances have changed peoples minds and that he can play even better than he has already shown.

“I came to United because I wanted to impress and to make good stories. I didn’t want anyone saying when I left that Nani was at United but he did nothing,” Nani told MEN Sport.

“When I leave eventually I want the fans to remember me as a big player for the club. I want them to say that Nani did well for United. That is what I want.

“I don’t think people have seen me like that so far. But I am young. I have time on my side. We will see what happens over the next few years.

“I am sure there were some clubs who wanted to buy me in the summer. I am at the best club in the world so everyone wants to buy United players because they know we have quality.

“I never wanted to go. When you are feeling low and things aren’t going well, you do feel alone. There have been times like that. But I never thought about quitting and going back to Portugal.

“I am so happy here. The most important thing is to feel at home and I feel at home now. That is a good feeling.

“My form has been very good recently but I know I can do better. I will work hard to do that.

“I know everyone is surprised that suddenly I am the man who is playing very well. But I am so happy that everyone is speaking about me now.

“I think I have probably changed people’s opinions of me. That is very good. Players like to be in this situation. You want the fans to be with you and feel confident. You want to media to be writing good stories about you.

“Everyone in the club is giving me good support and telling me good things about me. This is all very good.”

Read the rest of his interview with the MEN here.

Not content with mocking the Munich disaster at every opportunity, it seems Liverpool fans have found a new disaster to taunt rival fans about. This time it’s Everton that are on the receiving end of it. Fans were seen at the game holding up a banner than read “Steaua Bucuresti 1986″.

For those that don’t know what this means, it’s a reference to the fact that Liverpool fans’ actions that contributed to the Heysel stadium disaster resulted in the banning of all English teams from entering European competitions. Everton were considered favourites that year, but the ban meant they couldn’t enter and the winners were Steaua Bucharest of Romania.

In simplest terms, Liverpool fans are using the death of Juventus fans to mock Everton fans. Whilst not being altogether surprising, it is another show of contempt from Liverpool fans who will mock every tragedy going while at the same time calling for “Justice for the 96″.

Similar to the Spirit of Shankly (SOS) group calling for the dismissal of Tom Hicks Jr. for insulting one of their members which they described as “objectionable behaviour”, just months after having a good ol’ Munich sing song at their end of season party. Apparently their definition of “objectionable” changes to suit their agenda. If a more hypocritical set of fans exists I have yet to see them.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has hailed Wayne Rooney as the best striker in the world.

The Manchester United striker scored his 21st league goal of the season yesterday in the demolition of Portsmouth, and is in the form of his life. And Ancelotti believes Rooney is improving with each performance.

“United are using Rooney very well in this moment. Every game he proves his quality. He’s a fantastic, fantastic player.

“I am surprised because he never drops, he always improves his performance.

“It’s a good thing not only for Manchester United, but also for the national team because to have Rooney in this condition is very important for England at the World Cup.

“Is he the best in the world at the moment? I think yes. At the moment he’s the most decisive player in the world.”

The anti Glazer feeling was at fever pitch yesterday as Manchester United took on Portsmouth on the 52nd anniversary of the Munich air disaster.

On the pitch, United thrashed the hapless strugglers 5-0, but it was in the stands where the fans did us proud.

For the entire 90 minutes chants of “LOVE UNITED HATE GLAZER” and “WE WANT GLAZER OUT” were sung by dedicated fans waving their green and gold scarves in protest at the spiralling debts the Glazer’s have placed on the club.

Yet anyone watching Match of the Day last night wouldn’t have heard this at all.

Sky’s Football First program showed highlights of the match and you could hear the chants loud and clear and they showed images of the fans waving their green and gold scarves. But the Match of the Day highlights appeared to be completely edited to get rid of all traces of the protests. There were no audible chants and no visible green and gold scarves.

An institution such as the BBC, paid for by the fans(TV license holders), is supposed to be 100% neutral and this act of censorship is a blatant contradiction of everything the BBC claims to represent.

They might be able to censor us on Match of the Day, but they won’t be able to censor us at Wembley in 3 weeks time for the Carling Cup final against Villa. So bring your green and gold scarves, t-shirts, hats and flags and be sure to make your voice heard.

You can also make yourself heard by complaining about the censorship at the following link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms/

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has echoed the words of Patrice Evra in praising the way the team played yesterday.

United put 5 goals past Portsmouth without reply, thanks to strikes from Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov, as well as two own goals.

The United boss believes patience played a big part in the result.

“We had a lot of pressure and possession off the ball but we were patient enough,” Ferguson said.

“That’s important when teams come and sit in the way they did here today. Portsmouth were there to make it difficult but we got the goal just before half-time.

“We went looking for goals and managed to get three more, the one from Berbatov was brilliant.”

United now head the Premier League table by a point, although Chelsea do have a game in hand against Arsenal today.

Manchester United left back Patrice Evra is happy with his team’s 5-0 victory over Portsmouth yesterday, but was frustrated they didn’t take the lead earlier.

The energetic Frenchman his his typical self in the 5-0 thrashing, and was pleased with the spirit in which the game was played.

“It was a very good result,” Evra told MUTV. “We’re happy because we played in the right spirit and it was pleasing to score so many goals.

“I wasn’t concerned because I knew we could go on and win the game but I was angry that we didn’t score earlier.

“We scored at the right moment just before half-time. 2-0 made a real difference because it’s a lot harder to come back from. We kept going forward and scored lots more goals.”

One cold and bitter Thursday in Munich, Germany,
Eight great football stalwarts conceded victory,
Eight men will never play again who met destruction there,
The flowers of English football, the flowers of Manchester

Matt Busby’s boys were flying, returning from Belgrade,
This great United family, all masters of their trade,
The pilot of the aircraft, the skipper Captain Thain,
Three times they tried to take off and twice turned back again.

The third time down the runaway disaster followed close,
There was slush upon that runaway and the aircraft never rose,
It ploughed into the marshy ground, it broke, it overturned.
And eight of the team were killed as the blazing wreckage burned.

Roger Byrne and Tommy Taylor who were capped for England’s side.
And Ireland’s Billy Whelan and England’s Geoff Bent died,
Mark Jones and Eddie Colman, and David Pegg also,
They all lost their lives as it ploughed on through the snow.

Big Duncan he went too, with an injury to his brain,
And Ireland’s brave Jack Blanchflower will never play again,
The great Matt Busby lay there, the father of his team
Three long months passed by before he saw his team again.

The trainer, coach and secretary, and a member of the crew,
Also eight sporting journalists who with United flew,
and one of them Big Swifty, who we will ne’er forget,
the finest English ‘keeper that ever graced the net.

Oh, England’s finest football team its record truly great,
its proud successes mocked by a cruel turn of fate.
Eight men will never play again, who met destruction there,
the flowers of English football, the flowers of Manchester

The revelations of John Terry’s affair with Vanessa Perroncel have dominated the headlines since the story broke last week and it looks like it’s far from being over, with the news of the World apparently ready to uncover more scandals this Sunday.

The Chelsea skipper has shamed the England captaincy with his antics on more than one occasion, and it could be argued he never deserved it in the first place. This isn’t the first time he’s cheated on his wife and as we told you in our catalogue of shame, cheating isn’t Terry’s only vice.

Debate has raged all week whether Terry would resign from the captaincy, face the sack by Fabio Capello or be allowed to lead England out at the World Cup this Summer. Capello answered the question yesterday by stripping Terry of the captain’s armband in a decision that shouldn’t have been needed to be made. the England captaincy is the single greatest sporting honour to aspire to in England and it has never been as disgraced as it has by Terry.

When the judge lifted the “super injunction” and allowed his antics to be published in the national newspapers it should have been followed by a statement from John Terry announcing his immediate resignation. It would have been the first and last act of honour Terry had done as captain of England, but as it happens he chose to ignore calls from the general public, pundits and journalists by insisting he wouldn’t resign. It was probably his last act of selfishness before Capello took just 12 minutes to give john Terry the bad news in a meeting yesterday.

The right thing has been done. the armband was disgraced and the offender has been removed from his position, but it’s hard to see who the winner is in all of this.

Terry has lost the armband. Wayne Bridge has had to suffer humiliating headlines in the press. Vanessa Perroncel has been portrayed as a bit of a slapper. John Terry’s wife has shown herself to be a bit of a silly mare for standing by the serial love cheat. And the children involved will grow up knowing that one of their parents is a dishonest love rat.

The only person to emerge with a bonus from this is Rio Ferdinand, who has been promoted from his position as vice captain, to full captain. It’s an honour I’m sure he’s always wanted and he was arguably a better candidate than John Terry from the start, but would he have wanted to ‘earn’ the captaincy under these circumstances? I highly doubt it.

The England national team too will suffer. When Bridge and Terry take to the pitch or even the training ground, there is sure to be a certain amount of tension that will cause unrest amongst the rest of the squad. some will remain loyal to Terry, while others who are friendlier with bridge will be sickened by What Terry has done to his team mate and long term friend.

There are still some Terry sympathizers though. Jason Cundy voiced his opinion straight from Terry’s arse on Talksport, while the feeling on several Chelsea forums I’ve read seems to be that Terry has been the victim of a witch hunt.

What it boils down to is that John Terry, as England captain, has negatively affected the lives of his wife, Wayne Bridge, his Chelsea and England team mates, his children and Bridge’s child. The mood the revelations has inflicted on the England dressing room remains to be seen, but it could potentially affect the morale of the team as opinion is bound to be split.

The England captain is supposed to set an example to the rest of the players and be the representative of the England national team. He has failed in his duties and has quite rightly been stripped of the honour. And while order hasn’t quite been restored, the sacking of John Terry is most definitely a step in the right direction.

Sir Alex Ferguson believes Wayne Rooney’s form is simply down to maturity.

The England striker has suffered from inconsistency in the past, but has this season emerged as a consistent goalscorer, having netted 20 league goals already.

“Hopefully we are now seeing him mature into the centre-forward we always thought he would be,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.

“Young players develop in stages. I said last season that he was producing bursts here and there, scoring for four or five games and then having dry spells.

“But that’s what you expect from maturity. I think we are now seeing a more mature player.”

Manchester united left back Patrice Evra believes the down to Earth attitude amongst players on the training ground ensure they don’t get carried away with the success of the last 3 seasons.

“Manchester United is a factory workers’ club. You have to respect that culture.

“It’s a club where we work hard. They will not congratulate you after each win. Sir Alex frequently says ‘Well done my son’ and that says it all.

“For them it’s normal when you play a good game.

“It’s normal to win the championship. It’s Manchester United.

“We don’t have the right to make mistakes.”

Evra admits that sometimes mistakes are made, but Sir Alex is quick to correct them with his famous ‘hairdryer’.

“I do what I have to on the pitch. I’m not like Ferguson’s son. But as soon as I’m not good, Ferguson will give me the ‘hairdryer’.

“That he gave me the captain’s armband is enormous.

“I am truly very proud to wear it. I didn’t want to let him down.”

He also admitted that the team do miss Cristiano Ronaldo and mercenary Carlos Tevez, but the rest of the team have stepped up to compensate for the loss.

“We miss Cristiano and Tevez but the real star at United is the team. With Cristiano we relied on him in certain games.

“Today we need to do a bit more each of us to to create danger for our opponents.”

Patrice Evra has reveled that manager Sir Alex Ferguson jumps up and down “like a child” still after important victories, and will probably stay on at Old Trafford until physically incapable.

The Manchester United left back was referring to the Carling Cup semi final victory over Manchester City and had the following to say.

“Sir Alex is a child. We saw it against Manchester City. He’s so passionate.

“He was jumping up and down like a child after that game.

“You could be forgiven for thinking he’d never won a game before!

“At 70, he doesn’t see himself taking it easy at home reading a book or watching TV. Personally I think that would bore him.

“I don’t think he will call an end to his career. As long as he’s strong he will carry on.

“He will stay until his last breath.”

The Glazer family, who own Manchester United, are capitalizing on the recent fans protests by selling retro United shirts in green and gold.

Fans have been protesting against the Glazer’s and the huge debt burden they have placed on the club, by wearing green and gold instead of the traditional red.

The colours represent the original colours of United, then called Newton Heath, and the protest was meant to show the Glazer’s that the fans are United in wanting them out.

But now it seems the Glazer’s audacity has no limits as they have allegedly designed a range of new green and gold products to sell in the Megastore at Old Trafford.

Do the Glazer’s have any shame?

Ryan Giggs believes Wayne Rooney’s improvement this term puts him close to the world’s best players, like former team mate Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

The England striker has been in inspired form this season, netting 20 league goals so far, and Giggs believes Rooney can only get better.

“He is getting nearer that group,” he said. “You have seen it for England and for us on the bigger stages. That is what all the top players do.

“The best thing is that Wayne is still developing. He is 24 now but he is only going to get better.

“His appetite is strong and he is a great player to have in your team.”

The Welshman believes his team mate still causes problems for defenders, even when he’s not at his best and that’s what sets him apart from most centre forwards.

“Even if he is not playing well he still causes problems for the other team,” he added. “That is a very rare quality.

“Even with players who are genuine match-winners, if they are not playing so well, normally you don’t see them.

“But if Wayne is not having the best of games, which is not very often, he never gives up.

“He believes he is going to create chances. He believes he will get them and he believes he is going to score goals.

“More often than not, he does.”

Bookmaker Fred Done has revealed himself to be one of the “Red Knights” aiming to takeover Manchester United.

Fred, a lifelong United fan, is the first of an alleged 50 investors keen to take the football club away from the Glazer family, who have burdened the club with huge debts.

He was approached by fixer Keith Harris.

“If we are not careful we could end up like another Portsmouth, who look like they are headed for administration.

“Sponsorship will be the next thing to drop off. And don’t tell me that United are too big to go bust. Just look at the Royal Bank of Scotland and AIG.

“I think both David Gill and Sir Alex Ferguson are being forced to work with their hands tied behind their backs. My criticism is entirely of the Glazers.”

I have always got United close to my heart.”

One wonders is Fred was so worried when he was United’s official betting partner, before being outbid by Betfair in the Summer.

The ongoing court case involving Wayne Rooney and Proactive Sports Management has forced the Manchester United striker to reveal details of his vast income.

The company are claiming £4.3million in unpaid commission and the case has pened the books of the wealth of Rooney and wife Coleen.

At the time the claim was begun, Rooney was earning £90,000-a-week with Manchester United, as well as £760,000 a month from his image rights.

Nike were also paying him £1million a year, EA Sports £200,000 a year and Coca Cola £600,000 a year.

The figures were revealed on the first day of a three week hearing between Proactive Sports Management and the Rooney’s and Paul Stretford, Rooney’s agent, at Manchester Mercantile Court.

PSM claim the £4.3 million is owed for commission earned while Stretford was still working for them, but the Rooney’s refused to pay after Stretford quit to start his own agency.

The Rooney’s claim they’re being exploited because of their celebrity status.

Wayne and Coleen are expected to give evidence next week.

February could be a make or break month for Manchester United, as they face 5 consecutive away games after Saturday’s Old Trafford date with Portsmouth.

The Champions will face Aston Villa twice. Once at Villa Park n the league and once at Wembley in the Carling Cup Final.

In between those games, they’ll travel to Italy to face AC Milan in the Champions League, and back to England to play revitalized Everton at Goodison Park.

The 5th and arguably easiest of the fixtures is at Molineux to play Wolves.

On the one hand, 5 consecutive wins would put them in a comfortable position in the league. They’d have got 3 away fixtures out of the way and could look forward to more home game in the title run in. A win in Milan would set them up nicely to progress to the quarter final of the Champions League and of course they’d have won the Carling Cup.

On the other hand, a couple of losses could severely damage United’s hopes of silverware. Any losses in the league would mean more ground lost to leaders Chelsea, although the gap was closed to 2 points last night as they drew with Hull City. A loss away to Milan would leave them needing a win at Old Trafford. While you wouldn’t back against United overturning a deficit at home, you wouldn’t like to bet against Milan scoring an all important away goal either. Losing to villa in the Carling Cup final could also strike a psychological blow to Ferguson’s men.

It’ll be a tough month for the champions, but if anyone can get through it you’d back them to.

Fixtures

Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Barclays Premier League
Aston Villa v Man Utd, 19:45

Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Uefa Champions League
AC Milan v Man Utd, R1, L1, 19:45

Saturday, 20 February 2010
Barclays Premier League
Everton v Man Utd, 12:45

Sunday, 28 February 2010
Carling Cup
Aston Villa v Man Utd, F, 15:00

Saturday, 6 March 2010
Barclays Premier League
Wolverhampton v Man Utd, 15:00

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is hoping to have long term absentee Owen Hargreaves back in his squad to face AC Milan later this month.

The midfielder has missed 16 months of football after undergoing double knee surgery to fix a recurring problem, and is alternating training with the reserves and the senior team.

“I would like to see him make the squad for the Champions League fixtures against AC Milan.”

“But we won’t rush him. We are being patient.”

“Owen is alternating his training with the reserve and first-team squads, working for two days and then resting a day.”

Ferguson admits Hargreaves’ mental state has a big part to play in his comeback, but is positive he’ll be back sooner rather than later.

“It’s a matter of him regaining his ­confidence and when he is able to train every day that will be the moment for him to return to match play.”

Manchester United’s success on the pitch is not encouraging traders to buy the bonds they sold two weeks ago.

They successfully raised £500 million to refinance the serve debt burden on the club. 250 million in pounds and 425 million in dollars.The former are now selling at 93% of their initial value, whereas the latter are selling at 94.5%.

The bonds guarantee a return of a set percentage, added onto the overall amount every year and payable in 2017 when the bond matures, but the uncertainty over the club’s ability to pay back the sums when 2017 comes around has led to traders selling them at a loss.

“For investors this is bad news because it means you have made losses if you are marking to market,” Jonathan Moore, analyst at Evolution Securities told the FT.

Other bond issues have actually risen in value despite the credit crunch, while Manchester United’s are amongst the worst performing over the last year.

“In a benign credit market, Manchester United is one of the worst performing bonds since the beginning of 2009,” said Suki Mann, credit strategist at Société Générale.

The Glazer family are expected to wait and see how the team performs in the Champions League before returning to the market.

The gap at the top of the league was just 2 points tonight as Chelsea failed to beat league strugglers Hull City.

The Tigers were the better team for long spells and will feel their point was earned. they may even feel they could have gone on and won it, with man of the match Stephen hunt tormenting Chelsea down the left wing.

Chelsea’s failure to take the 3 points means the gap has been closed from a possible 4 points, to just 2.

Manchester United’s dominant display at Arsenal on Sunday put the pressure on Chelsea and was a real show of intent from the Champions, who will go top of the league on Saturday if they can beat Portmouth at Old Trafford.

Chelsea meanwhile, will host Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. A Chelsea win could put Arsenal’s title ambitions to bed, while a win for Arsenal would swing the title pendulum back in United’s favour, with Chelsea still to visit Old Trafford.

It will come as a surprise to those naive pundits who had already crowned Chelsea as champions earlier in the season. Just how often will they write off sir Alex Ferguson’s men before they learn?

David Beckham insists he’s always found the idea of returning to Old Trafford with another club difficult, because of the love he has for the club.

Now at AC Milan, Beckham still watches Manchester United as often as he can and is still a huge fan of the club.

“When I was at Real Madrid it just never felt right to come back to Old Trafford,” he told Inside United magazine.

“The thought of playing United always gives me that sick feeling because I missed the club so much.

“The first few years away were hard and there were a lot of things I missed. It was the club I always wanted to play for and I loved every minute of my time there.

“I always wish I was part of Manchester United, it’s just in me. Even though I’m not there any more, I’m still a huge fan and watch every game where possible.

Beckham is now looking forward to the first knockout stage of the Champions League, where United face Milan and he believes the atmosphere will make it a very emotional night.

“When the draw was made it just felt it was the right time to go back. There isn’t one player I’m particularly looking forward to facing. I’m just looking forward to being a part of it all and savouring the atmosphere in both games.

“Returning to Old Trafford is going to be special and a very emotional night. I’ve spoken to Gary Neville since the draw and we both believe it’s going to be a great tie.”

Sir Alex Ferguson insists there are no regrets about selling David Beckham to Real Madrid in 2003.

The Manchester United manager however, admits that Beckham’s return to Old Trafford with AC Milan will be like no other.

“No regrets. We move on,” he told Inside United.

“The only difference with David’s return to Manchester United compared with other players is that there will be a big media circus surrounding him when Milan arrive.

“He’s such a high-profile celebrity – not just a high-profile footballer – and we haven’t really seen anybody else return to the club in that situation.

“Our job is to concentrate on the football match and let the David Beckham media circus carry on – we know we’re not going to stop it anyway.”

The relationship between the pair was fiery at times, with Ferguson famously known for kicking a football boot at Beckham, causing a cut above his eye. but that’s all in the past now and it’s Ferguson that advised Beckham to move to Europe to regain his England place for the World Cup.

“I think I told him myself last year when I saw him before our game against Inter that he should be thinking about getting back to Europe if he wanted to go to the World Cup,” said Ferguson.

“And it looks like he might just get his wish now. He had a good spell with Milan last time, so it made sense to me to see him back there again.”

Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney is hoping his team can become record breakers by winning an unprecedented four consecutive league titles.

The striker is in the form of his life at the moment, and is hoping the easy win away to Arsenal will spur them on to retain the title.

“I hope we can kick on and win the title,” Rooney told The Mirror. “We’ve won the last three and nobody’s won four in a row, so hopefully we can break the record.

“It’s closer this year and more exciting. Chelsea and Arsenal are there. Liverpool have struggled but are a quality team and will be competing at the end of the season.”

Patrice Evra has paid tribute to team mate Wayne Rooney, who he believes has developed into a proper goalscorer.

“Wayne is clearly unstoppable right now,” said Evra.

“He has developed and understood that his job is to score goals. He channels his energies more and stays in the penalty area.”

Evra attributes much of Rooney’s form to the fact that Cristiano is no longer in the team, thus allowing Rooney to step out of his shadow.

“The fact that Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer with us has truly given him freedom.

“He has increased responsibilities, particularly in attack. Sometimes it is down to him alone to decide matches for us, but we are not dependent on Rooney. You could see that was the case against Arsenal, when our best player was Nani.”

Patrice Evra believes Manchester United have not received the respect that they deserve this season.

The United left back believes they’re as “devastating” as anybody when in full flow and shouldn’t have been written off prior to the Arsenal game on Sunday.

“People have criticised us a great deal,” he said. “Before our game against Arsenal, everybody had us down as losers. Plenty of people do not show enough respect for the reigning champions.”

The Frenchman insists United were only ever interested in a win at the Emirates, and playing for a point was never mentioned.

“We spoke in the dressing room before the Arsenal game and there was no question of us even coming away with a draw.”

Evra praised Arsenal for their attacking football, but believes Manchester Uniteds style is more effective. he also refused to rule them out of the title race and is hoping they get a food result against Chelsea next weekend.

“Arsenal are a side that plays very attractive football,” he added. “We do as well, with the difference that ours is more devastating. But I do not rule them out of the title race at all, as they are a great team. And I hope they will cause Chelsea problems next weekend.”

John Terry’s recent indiscretions have rocked the football world once again. Details of his affair with the ex girlfriend of England team mate and long time friend Wayne Bridge have provoked calls for his resignation from the role of England captain.

While some ex Chelsea stars like Jason Cundy and idiots like Darren Gough have defended him, most neutral pundits and journalists seem to be in agreement that Fabio Capello should strip Terry of the captain’s armband. Of course if he had any sense of decency he’d have resigned as captain when the stories broke. The man has no shame, but that’s another debate entirely.

Today we’re talking about his potential replacements. The only alternatives touted at the time Terry was appointed were Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand and Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard.

Rio is no stranger to controversy, after being handed an eight month ban for missing a drugs test in the 2004/2005 season. It’s hardly in the John Terry catalogue of shame, but it’s a dark spot nonetheless.

Gerrard is no saint either. In December 2008 he was arrested for assaulting a nightclub DJ for refusing to play a Phil Collins song. CCTV coverage showed Gerrard attack the man without provocation, but a jury somehow found him not guilty.

If Terry does indeed lose the captaincy, neither Ferdinand or Gerrard are being tipped to replace him. Instead, striker Wayne Rooney is at the top of many people’s lists to lead England to the World Cup in South Africa.

In recent seasons he has sacrificed himself for the Manchester United team, at times performing a thankless task out on the left wing for European away games, allowing Ronaldo to hog all of the limelight. But since the Portugueser moved to Real Madrid in the Summer Rooney has finally stepped out of his shadow.

Whilst not always playing well in the early months of the season, he became a clinical goal poacher to make up for it. As the season has gone on he has added all of the other elements to his game that make him such a joy to watch. He has developed into the complete striker, capable of dropping deep and playing the creative role we’re used to seeing him in, as well as getting himself in the box at the right time to spearhead United’s attacks.

England boss Capello had spoken of his desire to see Rooney play in a more advanced role and it looks like the absence of Ronaldo has forced Sir Alex Ferguson’s hand, allowing Rooney to grow into one of the best strikers in the world on current form.

His leadership skills are there for all to see. He leads by example with his hard work and dedication, and has the quality to inspire those around him.

He is not squeaky clean either, it has to be said. But after getting married and becoming a father he seems to have done something that John Terry will never do. Wayne Rooney has grown up.

He is the best person to take over from John Terry, should the Chelsea defender resign in disgrace or be stripped of the captaincy in even more disgrace.

Many will say England would lose a great leader. I say they’ll be gaining a superstar who will thrive under the pressure of leading England to glory.

Ryan Giggs has revealed the extent to which his role in the Manchester United team has changed over the years.

The Welshman has long been one of United’s most exciting players, with blistering pace and fancy footwork.

He would reap the benefits of the passing ability of the likes of Paul Scholes and David Beckham, but now classes himself as a creator rather than a runner.

“I have been fortunate enough to be surrounded with good players throughout my career,” he told Esquire magazine.

“In my younger days when I was quicker, if Eric got the ball I’d make a run. If Scholesy got the ball, I’d make a run. If Becks got the ball, I’d make a run. I knew they could deliver a pass. Now, it’s the other way around because I deliver to the other players.”

Giggs also praised team mate Wayne Rooney who is currently in the form of his career.

“If Wayne makes a run, I know where he is going more often than not because he’s such an intelligent player. He shows me where to put the ball, rather than the other way round.

“He’s got unbelievable physical attributes. He’s strong, he’s quick but he’s also a very clever footballer.”

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has praised Wayne Rooney and believes he’s currently reaping the rewards of playing further forward than he’s bee used to in previous seasons.

Rooney’s best position was thought to be in “the hole” behind a centre forward. Henry believes Rooney has always had the ability to be a central striker, but his all action performances have meant he’s arrived in the box out of breath and his scoring rate has suffered as a result.

‘People were having a go at him before because he wasn’t scoring,’ said Henry, who scored 174 Premier League goals,’ Henry told the Daily Mail.

‘But how can he score when he was running like a nutter to get the ball? When he was arriving in the final third he was not fresh enough to finish, and this year you see the difference. If he stays up there for 10 years, he will score goals for 10 years.’

David Gill was accused by fans of blatant lies today, after his interview with BBC radio Five Live this morning.

The Manchester United chief Executive was asked what he thought about the ongoing protests at Old Trafford and said he had no problem with them.

“Protests are fine, it is a free society,” he told the interviewer.

Why then, were many supporters ejected from Old Trafford for unfurling a banner that read, “LOVE UNITED HATE GLAZER”?

If we truly live in a free society, then surely these fans should be able to protest in peace without fear of being manhandled by overly keen stewards and booted out of the stadium like criminals.

David Gill is a very good Chief Executive, but his blatant lies won’t wash with match going fans who know what a police state Old Trafford has become.

Green and Gold ’til they die or fold

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that the rest of his Manchester united players all want to see Nani on the pitch every game.

The Portuguese winger has been in blistering form recently and put in another excellent performance today, contributing to both of Manchester United’s first half goals.

Ferguson told MUTV what the players think of Nani now that he’s matured into a consistent performer.

“It’s amazing, when you talk to the players they all want him to play, they all think he’s fantastic and now we get consistency and maturity out of him I think we’ve got a really good player.

“The boy has come back. He had an injury and he’s been freshened up and his last three games have been first class and today was his best.

“Maturity is one thing as he’s 23 now, he’s a very shy boy there’s no question about that. It’s a question of getting stronger and better to deal with playing for us every week. And today is an example of that maturity.”

It was men against boys again today as Manchester United gave Arsenal a lesson in ruthless attacking football at the Emirates stadium.

Goals from Nani (or was it an Almunia OG?), Wayne Rooney and Park Ji Sung silenced Arsenal until Thomas Vermaelen’s deflected shot forced a late flurry of pressure on United’s back line, but by then it was too late.

United started brightest, led mainly by in form winger Nani. Arsenal were quick on the counter attack, but Arshavin was disappointing in front of goal and failed to test Van der Sar once.

Good defending from William Gallas kept United out until Nani’s piece of brilliance in the 33rd minute. He appeared to be stuck near the corner flag with two Arsenal players for company, but a flick of the boot and he was in between both and into the box. He then did a quick dummy past the defender and crossed the ball to the back post where Almunia turned it into his own net. Whether the ball was already going in remains to be seen, but Nani’s part in the goal is not to be underestimated.

It was Nani again tormenting the Arsenal defence and creating United’s second goal. Wayne Rooney collected the ball just outside the united penalty area, saw Nani galloping up the right flank and sent him through. Rooney then sprinted forward to get on the end of the move and when Nani saw him making a run into the box he supplied an inch perfect pass which the in form striker rifled past the helpless Almunia.

The second half was very much the same as the first. Manchester United were dominating the ball and Arsenal could only resort to long shots from outside the box.

Park settled the points 7 minutes into the second half when he ran half the length of the pitch unchallenged before sliding the ball neatly past Almunia for United’s third.

It wasn’t until around the 70th minute mark when Arsenal actually had a shot on target, but even then it didn’t trouble Van der Sar.

They fluked one back in the 80th minute after Vermaelen’s shot deflected past he united ‘keeper.

So the final score was 3-0 but even that didn’t reflect United’s dominance and superiority in a game where they could have scored 5 or 6.

Van der Sar – 7 - Hardly tested.

Rafael – 6 - Tormented by Arshavin early on, but settled after that.

Brown – 7 - Excellent. Dominated aerially and restricted Arsenal to mostly long shots.

Evans – 7 - Same as his partner Brown. Arsenal didn’t get a sniff of goal until a late flurry of pressure when they fluked a consolation goal.

Evra – 6 - Not at his brilliant best in the first half, but recovered well in the second.

Nani – 9 - Man of the match. Terrorized Clichy on the right wing and created both goals in the first half. It’s debatable whether the first goal is how or and own goal, but his brilliance to get past the two defenders near the corner flag is not in doubt.

Carrick – 7 - A couple of stray passes early on, but dominated the midfield thereafter.

Scholes – 7 - Easy day for him. Given plenty of time on the ball by Arsenal and was allowed to spray passes all over the pitch.

Fletcher – 7 - Chased and harassed Arsenal’s midfielders all game. Didn’t let them dwell on the ball for a second.

Park – 6 - In and out of the game. Mostly out. Good finish for his goal, but did little else.

Rooney – 8 - Led the line brilliantly. Slightly profligate in front of goal, but still got himself on the score sheet.

Subs: Kuszczak De Laet, Gibson, Valencia, Giggs, Owen, Berbatov.

Arsenal

Almunia
Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy
Fabregas Song Billong Denilson Nasri Rosicky
Arshavin
Subs: Fabianski, Walcott, Ramsey, Silvestre, Eboue, Traore,

Revelations that John Terry has once again disgraced the England captaincy by cheating on his wife should not come as a shock to many, for he has previous form.

Here we go through the England captain’s catalogue of shame and argue that he should be stripped of the arm band by Fabio Capello.
2001
Terry went on a five hour bender with Chelsea colleagues culminating in Heathrow airport where they stripped naked, shouted abuse and vomited in front of American guests as they watched television coverage of the 9/11 attacks in New York. Their hotel manager described their actions as as ‘utterly vile’, while then Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri admitted ‘they had no decency or respect.’

2002
Terry was charged with assault after an altercation with a nightclub bouncer. He admitted to throwing a punch at the victim, but a jury cleared him after he claimed self defence.

2002
Terry was caught on CCTV being ejected from a club after urinating into a glass.

2005
After one of his flings with women that were not his wife, Terry had the following to say:

‘I really regret what I’ve done to Toni. I’ve misbehaved and slept with girls behind her back and that’s not right. She knows about it all now and we’re moving on. I’m not going to cheat on her ever again’.

2005
Two months after insisting he’d never cheat on his wife again, he was caught having sex in his car with a 17 year old girl who had asked for his autograph in the street.

2007
Terry was once again so drunk that he urinated on the floor of a club, in between European Championship qualifying games. England famously failed to qualify for the 2008 tournament.

2009
An email is circulated by John Terry’s people, inviting offers of sponsorship using the England captaincy as a promotional tool, or a cash cow if you like.

‘Are you looking for a leader to represent your brand?’ it stated: ‘The FIFA 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa is fast approaching! With this in mind Riviera Entertainment is identifying suitable commercial endorsement opportunities for its client John Terry for the period building up to the finals and beyond. John Terry is available to create effective brand awareness and endorse products and services globally.’

2009
Terry engages in a cloak and dagger routine involving £10,000 in cash and an unauthorized tour of Chelsea’s training ground. Terry later claimed the money went to charity, but that seems to contradict the video footage in which Terry insisted that the club couldn’t find out about the arrangement.

2010
Details emerge of a “super-injunction” that was lifted by a judge. The injunction related to an affair Terry had with the ex girlfriend of Wayne Bridge, Vanessa Perroncel – the mother of his 3 year old son. It’s understood that when the couple split up last Summer, Terry fancied his chances and moved in for the kill while Bridge moved north to Manchester City. the judge lifted the injunction as he believed Terry was more worried about the financial implications than anything else. It is also alleged that Terry impregnated Miss. Perroncel and later arranged an abortion.

It’s now believed that there is growing unrest amongst his England team mates as they believe Terry has finally crossed the line. Apart from Wayne Bridge obviously being against the England captain, there are believed to be a number of other senior players who have had enough of Terry.

So just how long can he keep hold of the captain’s armband?

And should he give up the arm band before it’s taken from him?

Football finance expert Keith Harris is working with angry Manchester United fans to try and raise enough capital to takeover the club and rid it of the Glazer family.

The Glazer’s have funnelled hundreds of millions of pounds out of the club in loans, “management fees” and interest repayments on the huge loans they took out to buy the club.

The real state of the finances was revealed a couple of weeks ago to the astonishment of many fans and it gave rise to a second wind of the anti-Glazer movement, headed by the “Green & Gold ’til the Club is Sold” started by Chatmaster of Red Issue forums.

The Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) have contacted Harris and together they’re working to drum up enough money so they can give the club back to the fans.

“Yes, we have been approached,” Harris told the BBC’s Football Focus. “We can lend our weight to doing something for the good of United and for the good of football – none of the takeovers that I have been involved in have involved any debt. They’ve been takeovers by people who’ve wanted to be involved for reasons other than money.”

Harris refused to name any of the potential investors, instead referring to them only as “The Red Knights’, but he feels that the time is right for a change at Old Trafford and that the investors are serious in their proposals.

“A number of people have been to see me and I’ve had long chats with them,” he said. “I know there are one or two people in senior positions in the financial services that have access to capital. We don’t know if the Glazers can be made to listen, but there is serious intent on the part of people who have support in their hearts. The time feels right.”

Harris, a United fan, is angry that the Glazer’s are damaging one of the biggest club’s in the world by addling it with huge debts and syphoning money from it to pay interest bills.

“(The Glazers) are playing with an icon of football, one of the most respected brands in the world, and it is in danger,” he said. “Seventy-five pence of every pound (fans) are spending is now going to the Glazers either for themselves or to pay debts.”

“If these rumblings become a revolution and (fans) stop going – as difficult as it is for them not to go – and the pounds stop coming in, there is real peril.”

A Glazer family spokesman told Football Focus that they have no interest in selling the club, but Harris believes they could be persuaded to change their minds if the price was right.

“It depends on the Glazers’ attitude but we’ve got to think that their businesses in America haven’t done well – nobody’s businesses in America have done well – and they’re probably highly geared to those businesses. If this is an opportunity for them to take money and go then you have to think they would listen to that.”

Portuguese winger Nani has spoken of his admiration for Sir Alex Ferguson for the way he has helped him develop this season after an inconsistent start.

After being in and out of the team early in the season and then missing for a while through injury, Nani has found it hard to nail down a first team spot this term.

It hasn’t helped that Summer signing Antonio Valencia had apparently been Ferguson’s first choice for the right wing slot, but after a couple of impressive performances against Hull and Manchester City, Nani has shown that he’s more than capable of fighting for his place in the first team and has thanked the United boss for believing in him.

“Week by week the coach has shown more and more confidence in me and that has really helped,” Nani told The Sun.

“United is not a very easy place to recover your place in the first team because there is such a big squad and I had problems at the start of this season.

“Injuries certainly damaged my performances and it was difficult.

“But Sir Alex was very clear with me – he spoke at length about what he expected and was always very positive.

“He changed my mentality and improved my morale over the past few months and now I think I am getting as much satisfaction from my performances as I ever had.”

“As I’ve said before, I am Nani and not Cristiano Ronaldo. I don’t want comparisons because our style of play is different.”

“My future is at Manchester United. I’ve heard all the rumours but my mission is to stay and help the club win more titles,” he said.

“I had a good game against Hull City. That’s my challenge, to play more, get more minutes.

“I know what the coach expects from me and I’m trying to always offer my maximum level on the field.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has compared his combative midfielder Darren Fletcher to Manchester United legend Bryan McClair.

Fletcher was very much under-rated by many until fairly recently, which is similar to what McClair went through during his time at Old Trafford.

The main characteristic they share though is their movement on the pitch. Both were always on the move, eager to get to the ball and play football.

“Darren reminds me of Brian McClair,” Ferguson said.

“He was exactly the same. When the ball moved he moved.

“Darren is in the same mould because he must run more than anyone.

“His energy and awareness of space are excellent.”

He has developed into a big game player and is an automatic name on the team sheet for games against the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal.

After an impressive second half performance against Manchester City midweek, Fletcher is expected to start against Arsenal tomorrow.

“There are not many big games Darren has not played in over the years,” said the United boss.

“We have been saying how good he is for a while. Maybe it has taken longer for the fans to appreciate the qualities the boy has.

“There is nothing you can do about that. He is not a stylish player by any means. He is ungainly and gangly.

“But he is a fantastic player.”

Another of Fletcher’s qualities is his strength of character. Something which after overcoming injuries early in his career have got him to where he is today.

“When he was a young lad of 16 he was out of the game for two years with ankle problems,” he continued.

“It is not easy when you miss your formative years as an academy player here.

“But he has come through that to the level he is at now. That is the character he has shown.”

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has criticized the way Arsene Wenger hit out at Darren Fletcher following United’s 2-1 victory over the Gunners early in the season.

Arsenal self destructed in the game, giving away a penalty and then scoring an own goal to hand victory to United, but rather than criticize his own players for lacking concentration, Wenger accused Fletcher of systematically fouling his players throughout the game.

Without naming Fletcher directly, Wenger had the following to say:

“players who play only to make fouls. And who are never punished, who make repeated fouls, and are never punished. And who get out of the game without a yellow card.”

Sir Alex believes this is where Wenger is wrong.

“That is where Arsene lets himself down,” Ferguson said.

“What he said was disappointing and actually, I don’t think he believes it for a minute.

“Everyone knows that Darren Fletcher is not a dirty player or a physical player. He is not built that way.

“But he can win the ball and his timing and energy to get to it is fantastic. You can’t call that a fault.

“Being able to tackle properly is a great part of the game.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has urged Manchester united fans to avoid the chants usually aimed at Arsene Wenger when the two teams meet.

The Arsenal manager was subjected to abusive chants when he came to Old Trafford in August, and Sir Alex is hoping to avoid a repeat of that incident at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

“Sometimes, I can’t make out these chants but I know there’s been some terrible abuse from our fans to Arsene Wenger and there must be a line drawn.

“And I think that they must know that ­themselves.”

In the first leg of our Carling Cup semi final with Manchester City, Patrice Evra was hit with a cigarette lighter, and was narrowly missed by several other flying objects raining down from the stands.

What did the FA do?

Nothing.

In the second leg, Craig Bellamy was hit with a coin and narrowly missed by several other objects thrown by fans.

What did the FA do?

The Guardian says that the FA will launch an inquiry and United could face sanctions.

Should be be surprised at the level of inconsistency from the FA?

Absolutely not. They have shown on numerous occasions how incompetent they are, and that the punishments are always more severe when Manchester United are involved. Why should we expect to be treated fairly this time?

When Fabio Capello took charge England he had a difficult choice to make: Should he stick with John Terry as his England captain, or appoint Rio Ferdinand or Steven Gerrard in his place.

The Italian chose the easy option and Terry was confirmed as captain, but was it the right decision?

At the time I thought the other choices would make far better captains. Rio Ferdinand had just led Manchester United to Premier League ad Champions League glory, whilst Steven Gerrard had dragged Liverpool to a Champions League win a few years earlier, albeit with a dive or two along the way.

John Terry had won back to back titles with Chelsea in 2004/2005 and 2005/2006. But they were won when Arsenal and United were in transitional periods and Chelsea were signing players left right and centre, spending hundreds of millions of pounds in the process. His successes are arguably less impressive that Gerrard and Ferdinand.

Nevertheless, we move on and we accept the decision of the manager and support the team. But it soon became clear that maybe his life off the field meant he was unsuitable to be a leader on the field.

He is apparently a serial cheater, having hit the headlines for that reason several times. Thelatest girl he’s alleged to have been nobbing is the ex girlfriend of Manchester City left back Wayne Bridge. ironically, Bridge had spent last Summer trying to convince Terry to join him in a big money move to Eastlands.

What effect does this have on his ability to be the England captain?

Would you have faith in a man who had been scuttling the girlfriend of one of your team mates? Would you trust his integrity as a leader and respect him as a footballer and as a man? The answer is of course no.

Cheating isn’t his only vice though. Only a few months ago he was caught on camera being paid 10 grand for a tour of the Chelsea training ground. And not long before that his representatives were shamelessly pimping the England captain around to any potential advertiser who wanted to take advantage of him and his role within the England team.

This is not how a leader should behave. He has shown time and time again that he is a dishonest man, motivated by sex and money who is not to be trusted.

The other candidates have previous form too of course. Rio Ferdinand was guilty of missing a drugs test, while Steven Gerrard chins DJ’s who won’t play Phil Collins, but neither of those indiscretions compare to what Terry has done. He has destroyed his integrity as captain once and for all.

He has let himself, his club and his country down and should be stripped of the England captain’s armband immediately.

Oasis singer Liam Gallagher believes Manchester City are ahead of rivals United – in the fashion stakes.

The City fanatic will be in mourning after they were beaten 3-1 at Old Trafford, but Gallagher believes looking good on the touchline is an all important asset for any manager.

‘Mancini looks good but then, all Italians are cool. He’s certainly cooler than that Taggart from across the road – he’s a top manager and all that but he looks like a dustbin-man.’

This sharp wit is a trait present in all Manchester City fans. I’m sure you were all in stitches when reading the comments, just as I am.

When details of the presentation for “Best Dressed Manager Of The Year Award” are available I’ll be sire to keep you updated.

Speculation is mounting that Manchester City Chief Executive Gary Cook will be given his marching orders, after another high profile gaffe left him red faced last night.

His first error came when he welcomed Uwe Rosler into the Manchester United hall of fame, instead of Manchester City.

His second and arguably worse judgement error was his boast last week that it was a matter of “when, not if, we’re at Wembley having beaten Man United yet again!”, only for City to lose after being thoroughly outplayed over two legs.

It’s thought that Sir Alex Ferguson used Cook’s comments in the dressing room before yesterday’s derby and that his words inspired United to victory.

City’s owners have reportedly began to wonder whether he’s the right man to take City forward and he could get the boot as early as the end of the season.

Manchester City fans get wound up in style by Chris Cohen of ESPN, Talk of the Terrace.

Tip: They’re the ones not celebrating.

I bet they regretted taking the seats when Rooney popped up with the winner in injury time.

Full size

It’s great when the lies of City fans are exposed isn’t it?

The best one of all, that I exposed last week, is that all City fans are from Manchester.

It was exposed again last night, as 38 coaches were parked on the AWAY car park during the game. Amazingly, they weren’t from Manchester.

I couldn’t believe it either, but apparently City fans came from Cheltenham, Blackpool, Preston, Hazel Grove and The Wirral, amongst other places. If we assume there’s 50 people on each coach, that’s 1900 fans out of a total of 9000 that definitely travelled from outside of Manchester.

Another interesting part of the night was the way they sang “This is our City”. And they proudly showed how they own the City when their “firm” of about 50 marched down the road, surrounded by a police escort of about 100, which they had asked for!

Still, ask any City fan what happened last night and you’ll hear stories of how they ran United all over the place.

It just goes to show you that the one thing you need to be a troo bloo is the ability to tell a good lie.

Rio Ferdinand was today banned for 4 matches following his charge for violent conduct.

The charge relates to the incident in the Hull City game where he swung his arm at Craig Fagan.

The incident mirrored an identical incident last month where Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano swung an arm at a Leeds United player. No charge was brought to Mascherano.

It is yet another in a long line of instances where the FA have shown that there is one rule for United and one rule for everybody else.

Rio’s actions can’t be defended. A player of his standard and experience should keep a cool head in games and what he did is deserving of a ban, but the FA need to show that they’re consistent or they will always remain the joke that they currently are.

As I understand it, there’s a panel that sits on these appeals. It’s actually their job to do so. Adding an extra match to the ban for appealing against it is akin to banning him for making them do their jobs. You couldn’t make it up.

City’s manager and Chief Executive will be eating their words today, after getting a bit giddy ahead of  last night’s game.

Gary Cook

“This football club will be without doubt the biggest and best in the world,” Cook said.

“People don’t like to hear it but I’ll make no excuses for saying it, and I will never stop saying it because I truly believe it with the resources and capabilities that we have – and when, not if, we’re at Wembley having beaten Man United yet again!”

Roberto Mancini

“When we go to Old Trafford, we will take that banner down,” he said. “This is the last year because we will win.”

Sir Alex Ferguson heaped huge praise on match winner Wayne Rooney, after his late goal ensured another visit to Wembley for the real Kings of Manchester.

“I thought Rooney was much better today than he was on Saturday (against Hull City), and yet he scored four goals on Saturday,” he told Sky Sports.

“His control, leading of the line and penetration was absolutely fantastic. It was a true world-class performance.”

The United boss believes the atmosphere contributed to the game.

“The atmosphere tonight, and the fact it was a semi-final tie, added a lot of spice to the match.

“And the fact we scored so late in the game brought a special type of celebration.”

“Nothing really happened in the first half. They sat very deep.

“What we said at half-time was to keep playing our football and keep spreading our play.

“I am proud of the team. I also must pay tribute to our support. They were unbelievable.”

Van der Sar – 8 - Made some excellent saves to keep us in the tie early on. Wasn’t at fault for the Tevez goal.

Rafael – 6 - Struggled at times against the impressive Bellamy. Needs to learn to stay calm and develop his footballing brain.

Ferdinand – 7 - Could have done better to keep Tevez out, but other than that he was very impressive. Good to have his experience back in central defence.

Evans – 7 - As against hull, looked much better alongside Ferdinand than he does against Brown.

Evra – 8 - Another fantastic performance from the Frenchman. Up and down the left flank all night.

Nani – 7 - another impressive performance from Nani as he continues his return from injury. A constant thorn in City’s backside, but not quite as impressive as against Hull.

Carrick – 7 - Controlled the midfield with his two partners Scholes and Fletcher. Some errant passes, but made up for it with the second goal.

Fletcher – 7 - Another combative display from the fiery Scot. Set up Carrick’s goal after good work from Nani sent him into the penalty box.

Scholes – 8 - Still our best midfielder on his day. Dominated the middle of the park with ease. Scored the opener.

Giggs – 8 - Started slowly but became an important player in the second half. Opened City up on several occasions and if not for profligate finishing from others we’d have sewn the tie up much earlier.

Rooney – 9 - Excellent performance. His pin point pass sent Giggs through to set up a goal, and he popped up in injury time to score the winner and break City’s hearts. Tevez who?

Following last week’s dramatic Carling Cup semi final first leg, Carlos Tevez had this to day.

“I feel I’ve shown I’m at the right club now. Everyone knows how important the fans are and, if I make them happy, it’s an honour.

City is my club now, a place where I feel part of everything.”

Apart from not knowing when to shut up, it displayed yet another dig at united fans following his acrimonious move across the red/blue divide.

Now I’m wondering whether he still feels he made the right decision.

After scoring 3 goals over 2 legs of football against us and still finishing on the losing side, we’ve proven once again that there are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s Manchester United.

♫ This is how it feels to be City, this is how it feels to be small.

This is how it feels when your team wins nothing at all, nothing at all. ♫

United

Van Der Sar

Rafael Ferdinand Evans  Evra,

Carrick  Fletcher Scholes,

Nani  Rooney Giggs

City

Given

Richards  Kompany  Boyata  Garrido

Barry  De Jong  Zabaleta

Wright-Phillips  Tevez Bellamy

After checking the latest news on newsnow a moment ago, I stumbled across this delusional outpouring of bile from a bitter City fan and felt compelled to reply, so without further ado, here’s my response to his “13 Real Reasons Why Man United Are So Hated”

1, Alex Ferguson’s arrogance, contempt and lack of respect for all other clubs.

That’s SIR Alex Ferguson to you son. Sir Alex is one of the most respected men in the game today. Whenever a manager is sacked or under pressure they can rest assured they’ll get a friendly phone call from him offering his support in their time of need. He is the master of building the siege mentality that gets our players thinking the world is against us, because it forces them to fight back and respond with win after win after win. You don’t become the greatest manager in the world by accident. You do it through hard work, dedication and excellent handling of the media.

2, United fans are arrogant and conceited, with contempt and a lack of class, there is nothing worse than a glory hunter rubbing your nose in it when they do not even know their own clubs history.

This coming from a fan of a club who have suddenly become the richest club in the world and automatically assume that they deserve success? Pull the other one. We’re one of the most successful clubs in the world and have earned our pace among football’s elite. All City have done is won the lottery and they think they deserve their success. Even before the lottery win they were a classless bunch so have no right to call us the same. The constant Munich chants and airplane gestures have become a common feature of every derby match as City fans revel in the mocking of the dead including one of their own. Remind me, who doesn’t know their own history?

3, Rio Ferdinand’s testing positive for drug use.

Rio Ferdinand never tested positive for drug use. He missed the drugs test completely, same as Christian Negouai of Manchester City. So not only do you not know your own history, you’ve also not properly researched your piss poor article.

4, Eric Cantona’s flying kick at a football fan.

Eric was kicking racism out of football.

5, Roy Keane ending the careers of other football players and admitting to it in his autobiography.

Roy Keane didn’t end the career of any player. I’m going to take a wild guess and assume you’re talking about Alf Inge Haaland. If so, Haaland retired due to an injury to the opposite knee that Keane kicked, so once again you should probably research more before writing this drivel.

6, United’s players continuously crowd referee’s when results go against them in groups.

This is one I can never quite understand. Every team in the country does exactly the same thing and we’re not even the worst for it. Try harder.

7, Pro United media banging on about and arse-licking United 24/7.

This one is even stranger because the media is full of ABU halfwits who usually try to slag United off at every opportunity. The reason for this is that most ex players of other clubs go on to become bitter pundits, angry because they never won anything, while ex United players often go on to become managers because they know what success tastes like and they want more. The media couldn’t be MORE against united if it tried.

8, United and fans milked profit off the Munich disaster and still do to this very day through merchandise and publicity, Ebay approved.

Is that the excuse you City fans use when teaching children as young as 5 to do the airplane gestures and Munich chants? It’s funny because you were all giving it the chants and gestures inside the ground, but when there was fresh air between you and United outside the council house last week you all did a runner in the opposite direction like the bunch of cowards you are. Run off your own patch and hiding in the nearby Asda, how embarrassing.

9, United neglected the survivors of the Munich disaster and their families.

This one I can’t argue with. Some of the treatment they got was truly shocking. But I struggle to believe that’s a reason why fans of other clubs hate us.

10, United’s players always find a higher level of arrogance but none more than Rio ferdinand, Gary Neville and turncoat scouser Wayne Rooney who would probably sell his own mother down the river for glory.

Rio Ferdinand is one of the most down to Earth footballers in England. Anyone who sees a short interview with him can tell that. He doesn’t have an arrogant bone in his body.

Gary Neville is a red through and through. If he played for any other club I’m sure I’d hate him, but because he’s such a blatant United fan it’s impossible not to love him. I ‘d imagine City fans would feel the same if anybody was like that at their club. Unfortunately for them they don’t have any players like that, because they’re a team of mercenaries and has beens.
11, United have fleeced many European clubs for decades by going behind their backs and approaching their young players and their families before their respected clubs can offer then professional contracts, abuse of position and lack of respect.

I’m sorry. Is offering young players the chance to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world illegal? No it isn’t, so United have done absolutely nothing wrong. On the contrary, they’ve given youngsters the best possible chance to make it as a professional footballer by bringing them to a training ground with some of the best facilities in the world, and giving them the chance to pay alongside football legends.

12, Most recently against Hull City, a Hull City player lay in pain in the six yard box right infront of Wayne Rooney and what does he do?, Wayne Rooney scores and celebrates without a care in the world for a fellow professional.

hull City had the chance to put the ball out of play, but chose to play on. Why should Rooney have kicked the ball out when he was in a great goalscoring position? It’s up to the referee to stop the game, and then only for head injuries. Rooney was right to play to the whistle as I’m sure you’d have said if it were a City player who scored.

13, After Rio Ferdinand delibrately injured Hull City player Chris Fagan as television footage proved, Rio Ferdinand denies any wrong-doing just so he can play in the second leg of the Carling Cup vs Manchester City.

I think “injured” is a strong word for a little slap. I’d imagine RIo has a very strong case, considering Javier Mascherano did exactly the same thing last month and was not punished.

So as yo ucan see, this is an example of your typical run of the mill Manchester City fan. Bitterness, delusion and ignorance.

They’re not know as “The LIARS” for nothing.

As a United fan I’m safe in the knowledge that my club is renowned around the world for a tradition of playing attractive attacking football. That our success was built on hard work on and off the pitch and spending only what we earned. Anything City achieve in the near future will be hollow success because it’s only come as a result of a man with a dodgy human rights record who wanted a toy to play with. City would win the league for the next ten years in a row and still won’t be close to United in terms of global appeal and trophies won. So think on City fans, your day may well be coming, but you’ll never be a bigger club than United. We’re bigger than you in Manchester, England and all over the world. Always have been and always will be.

Ahead of tonight’s encounter at Old Trafford we thought we’d remind you of another famous derby match of years gone by. The day Manchester United fans took over Maine Road in September 1985. United filled about 70% of the ground in that match, which goes some way to dispelling City’s beliefs that all United fans are glory hunters, seeing as there was no glory back then.

Even at a time when we were relatively unsuccessful, we were still bringing more fans to their own stadium than they were, which actually reflects the red/blue split in Manchester quite well. 70% red 30% blue sounds about right. Just watch when goals go in at both ends, all you can see are reds, reds and more reds.

On the pitch, it was Bryon Robson, Arthur Albiston and Mike Duxbury who did the damage as United eased to a 3-0 win.

Enjoy the show.

The day is finally upon is. Manchester United face Manchester City in what is billed as one of the most important derby matches for decades. The media hype surrounding the tie started when the draw was made and it will build to a climax tonight as we prepare for the all important second leg with City bringing with them the 2-1 advantage that they were so fortunate to receive from the first leg.

For Manchester United it’s a chance to show their noisy neighbours that they’re still the top dogs in Manchester, despite the huge sums of money spent this Summer. The added value of a win will also mean another year is added onto the famous banner in the Stretford End that records the number of years since City last won a trophy.

For City, this is simply their biggest game for decades. Not only is it against their biggest rivals, but it could symbolize a turning of the tide in Manchester. It could send a message that City are finally on their way to glory and become a stepping stone to greater things. When Manchester United won the Carling Cup in 2005, they got a taste of success and have dominated the league since. A win for City against the Champions tonight and against Aston Villa in the final could be the springboard that City need to mount a serious title challenge next season.

The online bookies all seem to be favouring the home side tonight, but events in the first leg could carry some passion into the second leg, meaning it won’t be an easy task for United.

City will be expected to play a big part in the outcome of tonight’s game, but while reading a thread on a betting forum earlier today I realized just how poor their away form has been recently. They conceded 3 goals at both Bolton and Tottenham. Conceded 2 more at Everton and another 2 at Scunthorpe, albeit in a 4-2 win.

The stats suggest their defence is there for the taking, but do United have what it takes to carve it open? In Wayne Rooney I believe they do. The England striker is in the form of his life at the moment and currently sits atop the Premier league goalscoring chart with 19 goals to his name. After pledging his future to United following recent speculation about his future, he’ll be eager to put in a performance tonight that will turn the tie back in United’s favour.

But as the saying goes, form goes out of the window when derby day comes around, so we’re sure to be in for a few twists and turns once Howard Webb blows the whistle at 8pm tonight.

City will no doubt sit back on their slender advantage and play on the counter attack, with United dominating possession as they did in the first leg. The game hinges on United’s ability to turn their possession into goals while at the same time dealing with City’s counter attacking tactics. Rio Ferdinand will bring some experience to the defence and be a leader from the back, while Rooney will work his socks off up front trying to create and score goals. If United can break through City’s defence early it will either be a very comfortable evening for the reds or turn into a very entertaining derby with end to end action. My money is on the latter.

What will the final score be?

Leave your predictions in the comments.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has reportedly banned Sky Sports from attending his press conferences.

Ferguson is apparently aggrieved at the way Sky have stoked up the tension ahead of tonight’s vital Carling Cup tie against Manchester City by repeatedly showing the incident involving Carlos Tevez and Gary Neville.

Sky’s James Cooper asked the United boss what he thoughts of some of Garry Cook’s recent comments, but couldn’t have expected the reaction he got.

Ferguson told Cooper: “Listen, you come on about stuff that’s of no interest to me. You try to promote yourself. Just leave the football to us, OK. You come on with some nonsense, so you do.”

Sky Sports will join the BBC on the list of people Ferguson refuses to talk to.

Manchester United have confirmed the signing of Fulham’s Chris Smalling.

The 20-year-old centre back’s form for Fulham has apparently caught the eye of United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who has swooped in to sign the youngster for next season.

Chris will stay with Fulham to finish the current campaign, and join United at the start of next season.

A statement on the official website said:

“Manchester United has agreed terms for the transfer of Chris Smalling from Fulham.

“Chris has agreed personal terms with the club and will join for the beginning of the 2010/2011 campaign. He will remain at Fulham until the end of the current season.”

The FA proved yet again that they treat Manchester United differently today, by charging Rio Ferdinand with violent conduct.

There’s a general concensus amongst ABU’s that we’re looked on favourably by the FA, but the truth couldn’t be more different.

When Rio Ferdinand missed a drugs text he was banned for 8 months and given a 50 grans fine. When Manchester City’s Christian Negouai missed a drugs test he was given a 2 grand fine, and no ban.

When Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney were sent off in the Amsterdam tournament they were banned for the start of the Premier League season. When Steven Gerrard was sent off in the same tournament a year earlier, no ban was given to the Liverpool captain.

When Robbie Fowler held up 5 fingers to United fans to indicate the number of European Cups Liverpool have won, no punihment was handed down, but when Gary Neville celebrated in front of Liverpool fans he was fined 5 grand and warned as to his future conduct.

Last month Javier Mascherano swung his arm at a Leeds player and no action was taken against him. On Saturday Rio Ferdinand did exactly the same thing and he has today been charged by the FA in yet another display of double standards.

Why do the FA continually punish Manchester United more harshly than any other team? I’m not defending Rio’s actions and any ban he receives will be fully deserved. To lash out like that on the pitch is worthy of a red card and a defender of his experience should not be behaving like that.

The issue is that the FA continually let players of other teams get away with things and then punish United players for identical ‘crimes’. They have shown time and time again that they reserve their most severe punishments for United.

You can view the Mascherano incident below. Click here to see the Ferdinand incident.

Portuguese winger Nani believes Wayne Rooney will overturn the 2-1 deficit against rivals Manchester City in the Carling Cup on Wednesday.

“Everyone is very happy. It’s great to be top of the table and it has given everyone a lot of confidence.

“We’re playing well, scoring goals and feeling good.

“The match against City will be very hard, but it’s great that we have someone like Wayne Rooney, who is in good form and feeling confident.

“It’s great to see one of your strikers score four goals and it gives everyone confidence because we know we have someone who can score goals in every match.

“I’m sure that it will be a fantastic atmosphere against City and I would love to be involved. Hopefully we can get the win.”

Wayne Rooney has pledged his future to Manchester United after speculation linking him with a big money move to Spain this Summer.

United’s financial woes have prompted wildly speculative stories about the future of the England striker, but he has moved quickly to reassure United fans that he’s here to stay.

“There’s always speculation, and when other big teams are talking about you, it’s nice that you’re talked about,” Rooney told Manchester United’s official website. “But as I’ve said many times before, I’m a United player and I’m very happy here.”

“I hope we can win the title again this year. We’ve won the league the last three years and nobody has ever won it four times in a row. We want to create history.

“The title race is much tighter this year and it’s probably more exciting for the neutrals or fans around the country. But we’re hoping that now we are top we can go on and remain there for the rest of the season.”

Manchester United’s promising young striker Danny Welbeck has signed for Preston on loan until the end of the season, according to manutd.com.

New Preston boss Darren Ferguson looked to father Sir Alex to make 19 year old Welbeck his first signing since taking the reins at Deepdale on January 6th.

Welbeck has made 11 appearances for United this term and has got himself onto the score sheet against both Wolves and Barnsley to help the reds progress in the Carling Cup.

Fergie Jr will be hoping Welbeck can kick start a run of good results for Preston to propel them into a play off place.