Usain Bolt To Sign For Manchester United

Well, maybe not but he has been signed up to do some sprint training with them after Ronaldo had asked him for some tips on speed. Sprint champ Usain Bolt will work with Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo next month.

Bolt, who won the sprint double in Beijing last summer, has been signed up to compete in an innovative 150metre street race in Manchester on May 17, but United fan Bolt plans to visit the Carrington training ground two days earlier after being asked for tips on running by Ronaldo.

He will also attend the clash between United and Arsenal on May 16 — and be welcomed on the Old Trafford pitch at half-time.

The Jamaican, 22, said: “I’m looking forward to giving Ronaldo a few tips so United have the edge over Arsenal. Maybe he can give me some football tips at the same time. I’m a left-footer and with my pace maybe I can speak to Sir Alex Ferguson and see what he can do for me.”

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FA Cup Semi Final Draw

The draw for the FA Cup Semi Finals was made today at 6.45pm and it gave us a North West derby in one semi and a possible London derby in the second one.

Full draw:

Chelsea 'v' Arsenal/Hull City

Manchester United 'v' Everton

I am quite happy with this draw as we have got the easier of the four teams, but don't get me wrong here. Everton are a great side with David Moyes at the helm and it is going to be a difficult match up.

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Manchester United Face Competition From Arsenal And Liverpool For Feghouli

Grenoble have a youngster who has caused quite a stir with Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. Sofiane Feghouli has raised a few eyebrows with his talent. He is currently with Grenoble. Now, Grenoble is a place/team I haven't heard of so I had to Google it. Apparently it is a city in South Eastern France situated at the foot of the Alps where Drac joins the Isere River, in case you were wondering.

Sofiane Feghouli began his career with Grenoble having been turned down by Paris Saint-Germaine. In his first season he made it to the first team and he made his highly anticipated debut, at the age of 17, for the club on April 27, 2007. in a Ligue 2 match against Stade Reims appearing as a substitute. He would make two more appearances that season including his first start on the final match day of the season against Montpellier HSC. The following season, he signed his first professional contract with Grenoble keeping him with the side until 2010.

The following season, he was handed the first-team number 8 and still aged only 17 he was then compared to Zinedine Zidane, so no pressure there then. His first career goal was against the club he made his debut against, Stade Reims in a 4-3 victory.

Manchester United posted scouts to check on Feghouli earlier this month, while Arsenal and Liverpool are also long-term suitors.

"There isn't a 'Feghouli dossier'," said Pierre Wantiez, Vice President of Grenoble. "Quite simply, there is a good player called Sofiane who must stay at Grenoble at least another six months. He said to us that he wanted to stay and play at Grenoble. This 30m euros thing, it is a way of saying that he will not leave and will stay until the end of the season. We are going to see what he wants to do. We are discussing and he will perhaps leave this summer. We will see."

Another player linked with Manchester United but certainly a useful looking guy. To make a first team impression in Ligue 1 as he did at his age is not an easy task. I guess though, with Arsenal, and Liverpool interested, the price will be hiked up a bit, as usual.....Back To Home Page...

Manchester United Are The Best At Winning But Not Spending

Who has been the best at winning the league without spending in the summer? United have been.......Which United would that be then?............Why, Manchester United of course.

United won the Double in 1995-96 while selling three of their most important players and buying nobody (although Eric Cantona came back from his kung-fu suspension in October). Mark Hughes, Paul Ince and Andrei Kanchelskis all left so that the Fergie Fledglings - Nicky Butt, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, David Beckham and Paul Scholes - could make their way into the team. After United lost the first game of the season 3-1 to Aston Villa, Alan Hansen gave us his legendary "you'll never win anything with kids" quote and Kevin Keegan followed it up with his equally famous "I'll love it if we beat them" rant when United overturned a 12-point deficit to catch Newcastle and win the league."

Manchester United indeed spent no money that summer, buying only the reserve goalkeeper Nick Culkin from York City in September. The list below shows how much each Premiership-winner spent in the previous summer (up to the end of August, to include major deals such as Dwight Yorke and Michael Essien that went through in the first couple of weeks of the season). Chelsea, predictably, are miles clear at the bottom, having spent a combined £142m in the summers of 2004 and 2005, but Blackburn are not as low on the list as many people would expect. That's because the most important building blocks of The House That Jack Built - Tim Flowers, Colin Hendry, Tim Sherwood and Alan Shearer - had been purchased in previous seasons before they won the title in 1994-95.

NB: The figures are not exact, because some clubs - Arsenal in particular - often do not disclose transfer fees, so all data has been taken from Soccerbase.

1995-96 Manchester United, n/a

1992-93 Manchester United, £1.1m (Pat McGibbon and Dion Dublin)

1999-2000 Manchester United, £1.5m (Quinton Fortune)

2003-04 Arsenal, £2.5m (Cesc Fábregas, Phillipe Senderos, Jens Lehmann and Gaël Clichy)

1993-94 Manchester United, £3.75m (Roy Keane)

1994-95 Blackburn, £5.3m (Chris Sutton and Robbie Slater)

1996-97 Manchester United, £7.5m (Raimond van der Gouw, Ronny Johnsen, Ole Solskjaer, Karel Poborsky and Jordi Cruyff)

2000-01 Manchester United, £7.8m (Fabien Barthez)

1997-98 Arsenal, £14.55m (Alex Manninger, Manu Petit, Giles Grimandi, Luis Boa Morte, Alberto Mendez, Marc Overmars, Lee Canoville and Christopher Wreh)

2006-07 Manchester United, £18.6m (Michael Carrick)

2001-02 Arsenal, £22.25m (Francis Jeffers, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Sol Campbell and Richard Wright)

1998-99 Manchester United, £27.75m (Jaap Stam, Jesper Blomqvist and Dwight Yorke)

2002-03 Manchester United, £30m (Rio Ferdinand)

2005-06 Chelsea, £53,4m (Asier del Horno, Scott Sinclair, Lassana Diarra, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Michael Essien)

2004-05 Chelsea, £89.05m (Petr Cech, Arjen Robben, Paulo Ferreira, Mateja Kezman, Didier Drogba, Tiago, Ricardo Carvalho)

Arsene Wenger - One Of The All Time Greats

Arsene Wenger sits on the bench at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff one Saturday in May. His team, Arsenal, are contesting another FA Cup final, their third in as many seasons. Out on the pitch his players are at it again, for one last time before the sun sets on another year. Thierry Henry receives the ball on the edge of the penalty area, waits for Dennis Bergkamp to make the run outside him on the right before sliding a pass into his path. Bergkamp twists and clips the ball back inside to Freddie Ljungberg, whose near-post shot bounces off a defender and into the path of Robert Pires. There is no other word. It is poetry - the metre and the rhythm, the beauty and the beat; France, Holland, Sweden, France; the blending of skill and athleticism and intuitive awareness that the players have of one another's movements.

On the bench Wenger watches, at once intensely involved and perfectly excluded. As the ball crosses the line he springs up and, walking towards the pitch, does his familiar celebration, elbows at his side, fists clenched and pumping discreetly. Then he applauds. Then he goes and sits down again. His is only a half -celebration, but then winning the much-eroded FA Cup is perhaps only a quarter triumph after the devastation of the preceding weeks, when Wenger's
world seems slowly, incomprehensibly, to have caved in.

To anyone accustomed to his body language, defined by its restraint, its marked lack of passion, it is as if Wenger had a personality transplant in the spring of 2003. For months Arsenal had played what may even have been the best football ever produced by a British club. Power, in Wenger's prediction, was sprinting south. And then they blew it, they blew their lead, and Manchester United, with Sir Alex Ferguson urging them on like a whip-happy charioteer, remorselessly chased and chased and ground Arsenal down.

Few people had heard of Arsene Wenger when he came to Arsenal in 1996. He remains an enigma - a cultured, media-shy Frenchman who neither looks nor behaves like a football manager. But now he is probably one of the most influential figures in the English game.

In August 1996, the name Arsene Wenger meant absolutely nothing in north London. "Arsene Who?" ran the Evening Standard headline that greeted his appointment. It was the story of his life, from the moment he took charge of his own team at Nancy 12 years earlier. In every new job, he didn't just have to prove himself; he had to introduce himself. When Rioch was sacked, one of the papers had three or four names as a replacement. It was Venables, Cruyff and then at the end Arsene Wenger. Trust Arsenal to appoint the boring one that you haven't heard of !

Because they didn't know who he was, one Saturday two weeks before his arrival, Wenger appeared by live satellite link on the video screens at Highbury. They should have played it in the dressing room too. It was one thing for the club's most famous fan not to have heard of Wenger, quite another for the club captain. Tony Adams didn't know the new man from Adam.

There was a feeling of "who the fuck is he ?" and "what is he going to do ?" and "What is he ?". "Rioch had been sacked, caretaker manager Stewart Houston had left for Queens Park Rangers and Adams and Rice were "kind of just getting on with it", recalls Tony Adams. "I got a call from the chairman along the lines of, 'I hear the shit's hit the fan back there. Er, don't worry, rally the troops. Good man on his way. Be patient.' It was quite hilarious." Did he know anything about
Wenger ? "No." Literally the name meant nothing? "No. Nothing at all. He wasn't an English top-of-the-tree coach with proven experience. He wasn't an Alex Ferguson. He wasn't a renowned manager of that time - a George Graham."

Wenger's appointment was announced on August 20, he met the press on September 22 and took official charge on September 30, a Monday morning. "He arrived unnoticed at the training ground," Lee Dixon recalls. "A meeting was called, the players filed in and in front of us stood this tall, slightly-built man who gave no impression whatsoever of being a football manager."

It was an extremely precarious moment in Arsenal's history. With Manchester United now dominant, Arsenal had become entirely dependent on an impregnable defence and the goals of Ian Wright to keep them in contention. There was no reason why they couldn't have turned into Spurs after Rioch. But after the arrival of Wenger, people began to think it's part of the natural order of things that Arsenal and Manchester United were always one and two in the Premiership more or less every year. However, it was not in the natural order of things. It was entirely because of Arsene Wenger !

He doesn't buy success, that's easy to do. He cultures it, he finds the raw, basic talent and he nurtures it, takes care of it and produces some of the most amazing teams I have seen for very, very little money. If it were possible to turn back the clock and re-run his 12 years with Arsenal WITHOUT Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, Wenger would be one of the greatest managers that ever lived. It would have been Arsenal winning title after title and FA Cup after FA Cup. Sadly for Wenger though, Sir Alex Ferguson does exist and he has cast a shadow over what I believe to be one of the best managers ever to grace the English game.

That's Arsene Wenger.....Back To Home Page.....

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Carrick Convinced Manchester United Are In Good Shape To Catch The Leaders

Michael Carrick is of the same opinion as me and is convinced Manchester United, narrow winners over struggling Sunderland, can chase down Liverpool and Chelsea in the title race. The reigning champions were staring down the barrel of a yawning eight-point gap between them and Rafa Benitez's side until Nemanja Vidic's last-gasp winner against Sunderland last weekend.

The victory means they are just six points adrift of the top, but with a game in hand.

They also have the prospect of a much easier second half of the season in which they will face all their title challengers at Old Trafford.

Midfielder Carrick has only known success since moving to United for £18m in 2006, winning two titles and the Champions League and he has no doubts he can make it a hat-trick of titles, even if Sir Alex Ferguson's side are in the unusual position of being one of the chasing pack.

"It's a tough challenge to win the league any way, we've done it from in front before, so we'll try to do it from behind. That's what it's all about. It's always a challenge. We want to keep the run going that we started. We're playing pretty good stuff - it's just a case of things not dropping for us at times. But a win is a win and we can move on now. There is a growing sense that United's title challenge is gathering momentum, having picked up 10 points from a possible 12 since defeat to Arsenal last month.

With Liverpool and Chelsea faltering in recent weeks, it has allowed Ferguson's side to close the gap at the top and leave them poised for a concerted charge in the New Year.

Carrick continued: "Even without Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal winning, it was important we won the game, it was very late, but I think we deserved a win, you can't argue about that. The way it came was very exciting, but we should have killed it off a lot earlier than that. Everyone will do well to go the rest of the season without dropping points, it is a case of who can be the most consistent. We feel we've got the right players to do it, but only time will tell. We believe we are capable of winning the league for certain." .....Back To Home Page...

Fergie 'v' Wenger Round 196

Fergie and Arsene Wenger are at it again. The Manchester United manager has said Arsenal are a club in disarray after William Gallas had his out burst, followed by The Arse getting kicked 3-0 by Al-City. Naturally Wenger is having none of that from Fergie, though by now I would have thought he would be used to it.

Fergie, who is preparing his side to face City this weekend, believes title rivals Arsenal are not currently in good shape and that City caught them on a good day last week.

"Maybe City got Arsenal on the right day last Saturday because there seems to be a lot of disarray in the Arsenal camp with the carry-on with one of their players," said Ferguson. But you can only do what you are supposed to do and City did that very convincingly."

Wenger has angrily rejected Ferguson's claims as he looks to get his side back in the title hunt against Chelsea on Sunday.

"I don't feel we are in disarray, I feel that Manchester City are a good side and Manchester United will maybe see that on Sunday. We had a few bad results and with the pace set by Liverpool and Chelsea, that made us drop off, but the quality is there and what happened to us can happen to them. If this team beats Chelsea after having beaten Manchester United, I believe they will go from strength to strength. You just have to believe, and I know we can beat them."

Personally, I'd rather be Fergie right now than Wenger. I fear for Arsenal going into this game and it could really bury their season. A loss for Manchester United with Chelsea and Liverpool both winning will make it hard for us too, but when the going gets tough, the tough get going as they say.....Back To Home Page...

Michel Platini Plans To Stop Debt And Child Trafficking

I've written before about Michel Platini and his rather bizarre ideas on how he intends to 'improve' the game. To me it sounds more like his 'plan to stop English clubs dominating Europe'. But we all have our own opinions I guess.

The UEFA president did have the grace to say he has no plans to interfere with the domestic league set ups which is amusing, as he has no powers to do so and it is not part of his jurisdiction, but thanks for that anyway Michel.

Platini is complaining about the financial set ups at clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, surprise, surprise. If Platini gets his way it would mean the 'Big Four', who regularly qualify for the Champions Leagues, having to satisfy UEFA rules on debts and even how much they spend on wages. The Premier League are fiercely opposing the proposals.

Platini said: "What UEFA can do - and we are thinking seriously about doing it - is to reinforce and improve our system for granting licences for our own club competitions. 'It is in this way that we wish to contribute to financial fair play, and start responding to the expectations of the various parties involved in our sport. Fiscal rules in Europe are extremely diverse...and the systems of licensing, control and financial management of football clubs involve myriad concepts and different regulations. UEFA is not going to charge itself with the task of harmonising European fiscal issues. UEFA is not going to impose its licensing system on national associations for their own competitions."

Platini has also shown a desire to ban the tansfer of players under the age of 18 within the EU. The Premier League also opposes the latter proposal. He's as good as calling these transfers 'Child Trafficking' which is absolutely ludicrous!

Platini said: "Today, in the world and in Europe, there is trafficking of children. I will not mince my words because the situation is serious. What else do you call a phenomenon whereby children aged 12 or 13 are torn away from their environment and culture to join a business in return for payment? This is what is happening in football. Together with FIFA, we are studying remedies, but measures can already be taken to ban the international transfer of minors, even within the European Union. In numerous European states, strict rules exist which prevent clubs - on threat of sporting sanctions - poaching young players - from their rivals' training centres. However, these rules do not exist at European Union level. It is in this context that we would like to be able to ban international transfers of players under the age of 18 within the EU. This is not to create an obstacle to the free movement of labour - it is an urgent matter relating to helping youngsters in danger."

So if a youngster aged 13 from my country, Romania, who has dreamed of being a footballer since he was 4 or 5 years old and has worked so hard practising and developing his skills is then told his career must go on hold for 5 years until he is 18, this will make it better for everyone involved I guess. No child is 'torn away from their family'. When handling these very young, potential future superstars, I am sure Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and every other team handles it in a very caring manner and offers assistance for families to be with the young boys if and when they become part of the Academy.

Some of these children grow up in extreme poverty, Dimitar Berbatov is a very good example of this. His one and only chance of wealth and a good life was to go down the footballing route and he made it, against all the odds he actually made it. Now Berbatov gives back a great deal to his country by means of helping orphanages and setting up football schools using his own cash.

Mr Platini, I suggest you go and ask Dimitar Berbatov if he felt he was trafficked and torn away from his family and you will hear the truth. Don't try and take away the one chance these kids have of fame and fortune, just to stop English clubs dominating Europe......again!.....Back To Home Page...

Zoran Tosic Signs For Manchester United For £8m

Manchester United have agreed an £8 million deal for Partizan Belgrade winger Zoran Tosic. The deal will be completed in the January transfer window subject to Tosic being granted a work permit next week.

The 21-year-old left winger became a target for Manchester United, Arsenal and Real Madrid after playing a big part for Serbia in last years U21 Euro Championships. Serbia made it to the final of this tournament. He made his debut for Serbia on March 23, 2007.

In order to qualify for a work permit a player must have appeared in 75% of their countries matches in the previous year but Tosic has only 6 from 14 or 43%. Chris Waddle has been appointed to the panel to hear this case by the Home Office.

As I said earlier Tosic is currently playing for Partizan Belgrade but he began his career with Proleter Zrenjanin before moving on to Banatski Dvor in 2005. Both of these teams actually combined forces to become FK Banat Zrenjanin. Tosic played 25 times for them in the Serbian Superliga scoring twice before making his move to Belgrade......
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Berbatov Injured But Sir Bobby Thinks He's Not Up To Scratch Anyway !!

Here's a sight we, as Manchester United fans, don't want to see. Dimitar Berbatov limping off the field clutching the back of his leg. This happened last night in Bulgaria's game with Serbia where they got thrashed 6-1. Savo Milosevic missed two penalties in the 5th and 15th minutes and also scored in the 29th and 34th minutes. He could have had 4 in the first half hour but oh well, he didn't. More concern is this Berbatov injuury, although we have adequate cover for him in Carlos Tevez it's not ideal for him to have a lengthy lay off with a hamstring injury at this time of the season. I for one think he is one of the best players in the world right now despite Sir Blobby Robson's cutting remarks about him after the Arsenal game.

Robson said: "You wouldn't have guessed on yesterday's performance that the Manchester United No 9 is the most expensive player in the club's illustrious history. Dimitar Berbatov is more talented than Arsenal's centre-forward Nicklas Bendtner, a deputy for Emmanuel Adebayor, but he was nowhere near as great a threat. But I do think Berbatov has to start justifying his £31million price tag if United are to get back on top and win a third successive title. Berbatov played too deep at Emirates Stadium and therefore wasn't a goal threat at all. He never looked like scoring and his record of one league goal in nine games for United suggests that has been a problem since he arrived from Spurs.

He doesn't look like the same player to me that thrilled us at Tottenham. Berbatov has shown some sublime touches at times, including that fantastic turn to set up a goal for Cristiano Ronaldo against West Ham. But a United No 9 has to provide goals as well, particularly as Sir Alex has had to leave out Carlos Tevez to accommodate him. I watched Berbatov drop back virtually to the halfway line at times yesterday, content to get a few touches of the ball and play some simple passes. I bet Arsenal were delighted to see him so deep because he wasn't going to hurt them from there. Berbatov is strong enough and skilful enough to hold the ball up and turn defenders where it counts - on the edge of the penalty area. So I don't know why he didn't stay 15 yards further up the field. Funnelling back out of the danger zone was an easy option."

I would imagine he played the way he did because Sir Alex Ferguson (the most succesful manager ever to walk the planet) told him to do so Mr Robson !! People slating Berbatov and the way he plays get right up my nose. I think Sir Blobby Robson should come forward and compare trophies won with Sir Alex and we'll see who knows best !! .....Back To Home Page.....

Is Arsene Wenger One Of The Best Managers Ever ?

Arsene Wenger sits on the bench at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff one Saturday in May. His team, Arsenal, are contesting another FA Cup final, their third in as many seasons. Out on the pitch his players are at it again, for one last time before the sun sets on another year. Thierry Henry receives the ball on the edge of the penalty area, waits for Dennis Bergkamp to make the run outside him on the right before sliding a pass into his path. Bergkamp twists and clips the ball back inside to Freddie Ljungberg, whose near-post shot bounces off a defender and into the path of Robert Pires. There is no other word. It is poetry - the metre and the rhythm, the beauty and the beat; France, Holland, Sweden, France; the blending of skill and athleticism and intuitive awareness that the players have of one another's movements.

On the bench Wenger watches, at once intensely involved and perfectly excluded. As the ball crosses the line he springs up and, walking towards the pitch, does his familiar celebration, elbows at his side, fists clenched and pumping discreetly. Then he applauds. Then he goes and sits down again. His is only a half -celebration, but then winning the much-eroded FA Cup is perhaps only a quarter triumph after the devastation of the preceding weeks, when Wenger's
world seems slowly, incomprehensibly, to have caved in.

To anyone accustomed to his body language, defined by its restraint, its marked lack of passion, it is as if Wenger had a personality transplant in the spring of 2003. For months Arsenal had played what may even have been the best football ever produced by a British club. Power, in Wenger's prediction, was sprinting south. And then they blew it, they blew their lead, and Manchester United, with Sir Alex Ferguson urging them on like a whip-happy charioteer, remorselessly chased and chased and ground Arsenal down.

Few people had heard of Arsene Wenger when he came to Arsenal in 1996. He remains an enigma - a cultured, media-shy Frenchman who neither looks nor behaves like a football manager. But now he is probably one of the most influential figures in the English game.

In August 1996, the name Arsene Wenger meant absolutely nothing in north London. "Arsene Who?" ran the Evening Standard headline that greeted his appointment. It was the story of his life, from the moment he took charge of his own team at Nancy 12 years earlier. In every new job, he didn't just have to prove himself; he had to introduce himself. When Rioch was sacked, one of the papers had three or four names as a replacement. It was Venables, Cruyff and then at the end Arsene Wenger. Trust Arsenal to appoint the boring one that you haven't heard of !

Because they didn't know who he was, one Saturday two weeks before his arrival, Wenger appeared by live satellite link on the video screens at Highbury. They should have played it in the dressing room too. It was one thing for the club's most famous fan not to have heard of Wenger, quite another for the club captain. Tony Adams didn't know the new man from Adam.

There was a feeling of "who the fuck is he ?" and "what is he going to do ?" and "What is he ?". "Rioch had been sacked, caretaker manager Stewart Houston had left for Queens Park Rangers and Adams and Rice were "kind of just getting on with it", recalls Tony Adams. "I got a call from the chairman along the lines of, 'I hear the shit's hit the fan back there. Er, don't worry, rally the troops. Good man on his way. Be patient.' It was quite hilarious." Did he know anything about
Wenger ? "No." Literally the name meant nothing? "No. Nothing at all. He wasn't an English top-of-the-tree coach with proven experience. He wasn't an Alex Ferguson. He wasn't a renowned manager of that time - a George Graham."

Wenger's appointment was announced on August 20, he met the press on September 22 and took official charge on September 30, a Monday morning. "He arrived unnoticed at the training ground," Lee Dixon recalls. "A meeting was called, the players filed in and in front of us stood this tall, slightly-built man who gave no impression whatsoever of being a football manager."

It was an extremely precarious moment in Arsenal's history. With Manchester United now dominant, Arsenal had become entirely dependent on an impregnable defence and the goals of Ian Wright to keep them in contention. There was no reason why they couldn't have turned into Spurs after Rioch. But after the arrival of Wenger, people began to think it's part of the natural order of things that Arsenal and Manchester United were always one and two in the Premiership more or less every year. However, it was not in the natural order of things. It was entirely because of Arsene Wenger !

He doesn't buy success, that's easy to do. He cultures it, he finds the raw, basic talent and he nurtures it, takes care of it and produces some of the most amazing teams I have seen for very, very little money. If it were possible to turn back the clock and re-run his 12 years with Arsenal WITHOUT Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, Wenger would be one of the greatest managers that ever lived. It would have been Arsenal winning title after title and FA Cup after FA Cup. Sadly for Wenger though, Sir Alex Ferguson does exist and he has cast a shadow over what I believe to be one of the best managers ever to grace the English game.

That's Arsene Wenger.....Back To Home Page.....

Manchester United To Play Blackburn In Carling Cup Quarter Final

The draw for the quarter-finals of the
League Cup was made on Saturday.
Manchester United have been handed
a home draw against Paul Ince's team
Blackburn Rovers. The bookies now
make United favourites to lift the trophy.

Blackburn reached the last eight after a 2-1 win at
Sunderland and will travel to Old Trafford in the
week beginning December 1st.

Burnley, who recorded a miraculous win against
Chelski at Stamford Bridge have been rewarded
with a home tie against Arsenal, Derby travel to
Stoke city and Watford are at home to Spurs.

According to the bookmakers Manchester United
are now favourites to win the Carling Cup with a
best priced 15/8 with Ladbrokes. They have
Arsenal second favourites 2/1, holders Tottenham
are third best at 3/1.

United and Blackburn have met in this competition
on four occasions - United claiming two wins with
two draws. The last meeting was in the 2006 semi-
final with United claiming a 1-1 draw at Ewood Park
in the first-leg, before edging the second contest by
two-goals-to-one.

The full draw is as follows:

Stoke City v. Derby County
Manchester United v. Blackburn Rovers
Burnley v. Arsenal
Watford v. Spurs

Axel Witsel Bid May Be Imminent

Manchester United are being rushed into making a £10million bid for Standard Liege midfielder Axel Witsel before Arsenal and Inter move. Sir Alex Ferguson has had scouts in Belgium to watch Witsel in action for the last couple of matches and he turned in a great display against Sevilla in the Uefa Cup last week.

Fergie has been hit by a minor midfield injury crisis with recent news that Owen Hargreaves will be out for the season (is he the new Louis Sahahahahaha ?) and Paul Scholes not due back until the New Year. United could wait for a few months and bid for him in the summer but by doing this his price could have gone through the roof.

The 19-year-old impressed against Liverpool in the Champions League qualifiers last August and had a fine game when Standard knocked Everton out of the Uefa Cup earlier this season.

Arsenal, Inter, Bolton and Middlesbrough have also been following the pacy central midfielder who is under contract at the Stade du Sclessin until 2013. Bolton have already had a £5million bid rebuffed by the Belgian champions who are said to value Witsel at £18million......dream on !!! .....Back To Home Page

Fat Frank Is Getting Excited A Bit Too Early Me Thinks !

Fat Frank Lampard has thrown down the gauntlet to Manchester United by claiming the reigning champions cannot afford to lose any more games if they want to retain their crown. That is quite funny actually. We have lost two games to their one. The average amount of games lost when a team wins the league is around 4 or 5. So dear Frank, we can lose 3 more games and still win it !! Add to this the fact we have played the big 3 teams ALL AWAY FROM HOME already, gives us a rather nice run-in come next April/May. In fact, by the time Santa squeezes hit fat ass down your chimney Manchester United will have played ALL the teams in the top half of the table AWAY !!

Chelsea are eight points clear of United right now after their 2-0 win at Blackburn and United's defeat by Arsenal. But don't forget United do have a game in hand but Lampard believes it is far easier to set the pace than try to catch up. What he should say is "For Chelsea it seems easier to lead than play catch up" - Manchester United can win the league coming from behind or by leading !! We are not fussy either way !!

Lampard said: "It is a nice gap for us. It is far from over, but in the last two years it's been the other way round. We've been five points behind them and it is not easy. When you are chasing, you really can't afford to lose games. It is certainly easier when you are making the pace, because the points give you a bit of security. You have to remember Liverpool are neck and neck with us. But Man United and Arsenal, who are always big contenders, are those few points behind. It is not easy to chase, the pressure builds up and if you drop points you fall further behind. It's difficult either way, because the big four don't lose too many games or drop too many points. You certainly don't want to be too far behind at this point. We did it last year and we made a lot of ground up. But in the end we lost the title by two points, so it feels nice to be in the lead."Given the fact Manchester United will have played so many hard games away from home by the time December comes around........I would not be surprised if they put on an almighty surge after New Year and remain undefeated until May !! We'll see Frank, we'll see !! .....Back To Home Page

The Premier League Fixture List Is A Farce !

I would have thought the FA or whoever makes the fixture list would take into account the Champions League fixtures of the teams involved before they "throw together" their fixture list for the season. Last season was mystifying when they put Manchester United at home against Manchester City to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Munich. Common sense tells you that was not wise. As it happens it turned out OK but not by good judgement, it was more by luck.

So when the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool represent this country in the Champions League why oh why don't the FA help them out, encourage them and at least try and eleviate some of the travelling problems ? Take this season for example - All six of United’s six Champions League group matches have been or will be followed by tough away assignments – against Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers, Everton, Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur – and Ferguson believes that the situation is unfair, even though he said that fatigue did not appear to be a contributing factor on Saturday.

“They say the league is not handicapped, but I’m not so sure,” Ferguson said. “Having every game away from home following a European tie is not easy. Going from Celtic on Wednesday to play at Arsenal the following Saturday lunchtime is hard, although, funnily enough, I didn’t think it was a problem on this occasion.”

Chelsea have four nice cushy home games after their Champions League games and Liverpool find themselves at home for five of their games - it's hard enough to win the Premier League and Champions League in one season, United being the only team to have done it in the Premiership, so why do the FA try to make it even harder ? .....Back To Home Page

Manchester United Part Of The Scramble For Schneiderlin

Southampton's French teenager Morgan Schneiderlin is a target for Premiership clubs Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea. Spurs are also following the former Strasbourg midfielder. Schneiderlin has made a big impact on the South Coast and that has alerted United and Spurs, while Fulham are also thought to be prepared to offer £5million for the France Under-19 captain.

He has represented his country at under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-19 levels, and has also captained the under-18 side. He moved from RC Strasbourg to Southampton on 27 June 2008, having signed a four-year contract in a deal that could rise to €1.5m, or £1.2m. He joined Southampton despite receiving an offer from local rivals Portsmouth, and with interest from Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelski. He made his debut in the 2-1 defeat away to Cardiff City and has kept his place in the first team. The lengthening queue of clubs means Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will have to bring forward his planned move for Schneiderlin, even though a rookie defensive midfielder would not seem to be at the top of an Emirates wanted list.....Back To Home Page

Arsene Wenger Says United Are A "Great" Team

Two goals from Samir Nasri gave The
Arse a 2-1 win over Manchester United
at the Emirates Stadium, in a match
Wenger admits his side simply needed
to win.

Talking to Sky Sports he said: "It was
of course vital to win, overall, it was a
great football game. Both teams really
went for it. I knew today that was a
big game for the future of the team.
We needed to keep in the race and know
we can win big games. Man United are
a great side and they created chances
but didn't take them. We took our
chances today.” .....Back To Home Page

Alex Ferguson Furious With Jibes At Wenger !

Sir Alex Ferguson has hit out at Manchester United fans for targeting Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger. “It should stop," said Ferguson.

“There’s been a focus on fans’ behaviour and the chants towards Arsene Wenger and other managers. It’s ridiculous and I think the police should be doing more. They should be stepping in. Manchester United and their supporters should know very well the chants that have been levelled at us over the years — ie Munich — and understand the sensitivity, and the criticism directed at members of the club itself. I don’t agree with it at all and hopefully our fans appreciate it comes to me too. I hope other clubs share the same views I do. There is enough to admire in our game without having to denigrate people.” .....Back To Home Page

Arsenal 'v' Manchester United Team News

Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes could be back in action for the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan next month. Scholes was ruled out for 10 weeks when he suffered knee ligament damage against Aalborg in September but has returned to light training and could potentially make his comeback against Tottenham on December 13 before flying to the Far East.

The former England star joins another long-term absentee Owen Hargreaves on the sidelines for the trip to Arsenal, while Wes Brown has also been ruled out for another week as he rests an ankle problem. Darren Fletcher (knee) is a doubt but captain Gary Neville is fit.

Arsenal forward Robin van Persie is suspended. Emmanuel Adebayor (ankle) and Emmanuel Eboue (knee) will miss out, along with long-term absentees Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo. Late checks will be made on Mikael Silvestre (nose), William Gallas (hamstring), Bacary Sagna (ankle) and Theo Walcott (shoulder).

Teams:

Arsenal (from): Almunia, Fabianski, Diaby, Sagna, Fabregas, Toure, Nasri, Gallas, Vela, Walcott, Denilson, Ramsey, Song, Silvestre, Wilshere, Gibbs, Djourou, Clichy, Bendtner.

Man Utd (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, Neville, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, O'Shea, Evra, Ronaldo, Carrick, Gibson, Possebon, Fletcher, Anderson, Giggs, Nani, Park, Rooney, Berbatov, Tevez......Back To Home Page

Arsenal Next - Bring It On !!

Doesn't Sir Alex look just happy here ? Not surprising really when he gets to have a crack at the crumbling Arsenal this week. Arsenal are going through a sticky patch, goals and points are drying up and injuries are mounting, so it is not the best time to entertain title rivals Manchester United on Saturday.

A home defeat by Hull City is enough to get the tears flowing for The Arsenal and last week's shipping of two late goals to allow local rivals Tottenham Hotspur to grab a famous 4-4 draw both undermined the "Fortress Emirates" mentality. That was followed by another defeat at Stoke City and Wednesday's goalless home draw with Fenerbahce in the Champions League, a team they thumped 5-2 away last month.

Striker Emmanuel Adebayor will miss Saturday's game with an ankle injury, winger Theo Walcott is doubtful with a shoulder problem and Robin van Persie is suspended. Without their first-choice strike duo, Wenger is likely to turn to 19-year-old Carlos Vela, who played the last 30 minutes on Wednesday, and Nicklas Bendtner, hardly ideal against the Champions of Europe.

That lack of depth has left Arsenal exposed but Wenger, instead of looking to his own selections and dealings, or otherwise, in the close-season transfer market, has chosen to look elsewhere for blame. Increasingly frustrated by the way more physical teams have been able to negate his slick-passing but lightweight side, the Frenchman this week claimed that Stoke's players had set out to deliberately hurt his players. The only thing that Stoke did to hurt his players was to allow Rory Delap to take two throw ins from which Stoke scored !!

However, he is refusing to panic. We want to be guided by the way we want to play football, our spirit and not to go over-board, we lost a game (against Stoke) but we are six points behind the leaders. It is the start of November and we have plenty of quality to get it back. United is always a massive game and Saturday is no different. But they drew also against Celtic so maybe that shows you how demanding the Premier League is."

Another defeat could stretch that gap to nine and see Chelsea, Liverpool and United pulling clear. Although United needed a late Ryan Giggs header for their point at Celtic Park, their multi-pronged attack again looked extremely dangerous. Soft defending allowed Hull to score three at Old Trafford last week but United bagged four. Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo are all starting to find the net regularly and Carlos Tevez is also showing some sharpness after spending time on the bench. A point ahead of Arsenal and with a game in hand, an away victory for United, something they have managed in the league just once in 10 years, would leave the Gunners in real trouble.

Chelsea, who returned to the top last week on goal difference with a 5-0 thrashing of Sunderland, are at Blackburn Rovers on Sunday while Liverpool, stunned 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur, are at home to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.....Back To Home Page