Villareal 0-0 Manchester United

The fourth scoreless draw in a row against the Spaniards didn't really come as much of a shock did it. Both teams needed just the point to be sure of going through to the next round. For Villareal that was crucial as if Celtic had won in Denmark as they had every chance of doing that would left them with an unenviable trip to Glasgow where they would have had to get a point. I think they would have done that but you can't blame them for wanting to make sure last night. As for us we have got a derby coming up on sunday where our players might actually put in as much effort as their lot usually do. I know i see Liverpool as a bigger game than the Derby but it is still a massive game! This season with them doing the double over us last year and now having untold riches i think we can expect our lot to treat it with the respect it warrants. Besides all that we have to get on a winning streak and soon because we still don't seem to have clicked this season.
I have to admit being surprised by the starting line up, i wasn't that surprised that Nani started but i expected it to be at the expense of Ronaldo not Tevez. Fergie said Ronaldo was desperate to play, well it's not too hard to guess why. This is after all the country where he had his heart set on in the summer. I think we can safely say he might have wanted to remind Real he is still out there should they want next season, which of course they do whatever they say.
As for the game the first half was a complete damp squib as they got everybody behind the ball and although United had a lot of possession it took until the last couple of minutes for them to create a really worth while chance. A great ball from Anderson found Rooney in the middle just outside the penalty area who touched it expertly into the path of Ronaldo who let rip first time and hit a venomous shot that took a slight deflection forcing the goalie into a fingertip save forcing it onto the cross bar. Just before half time A free kick from just ouside the area saw another fine strike from Ronaldo which brought out another impressive save from their number 1 Lopez.
The second hald was a better specatcle and saw United really gain control of the match and this time create more chances. But we couldn't really open them up and we didn't really create any guilt edge chances to be honest. Carrick and Fletcher bossed the midfield, Rooney tried hard to create room up front, Evra tried to get forward with negligible help from Nani who once again was very disappointing, not so much as he played badly as being anonnymous. Jonny Evans partnered Ferdinand and had a decent game though to be fair he didn't have too much to do. By the 65th minute they had lost both Senna and Pires and after that they rarely ventured over the half way line. It was disappointing to see Rooney stoop to some of Ronaldo's lesser traits though i have to admit i was willing the ref to give a penalty as that would have netted me a tidy sum even though i knew he hadn't beeen touched.
Rooney was involved in most of our best moments in the second half with a chip that he rushed a fine first time left foot volley that unfortunately straight at the goalie and lastly a run and centre that was almost deflected into the back of the net. I'm not a fan of the amount of times Ronaldo goes to ground but the Villareal defender Capdevila can have no complaints about the red card as it was a nasty foul that would have wrecked.
So through to the next round, it maybe a bit presumptious but it will be surely as group winners with Aalborg at home in the last game. Now for the game of the week.

Rooney says sorry
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/26/manchester-united-villarreal-champions-league1

MP backs MUST's campaign against United's price ticketing policy, the more supporters the better.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_united/s/1081788_mp_backs_ticket_campaign

The credit crunch even affecting Dubai apparently
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article5233280.ece

The economy still going from bad to worse, the tactic of having Gordon Brown being the supposed hero saving thw world's economies might not look too clever when the jobs really start to go, as it looks like they are staring to
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5236433.ece
Woolies to go into administration
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/woolworths-stores-set-for-administration-1035497.html

Fergie satisfied with draw

So was I
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/3507772/Sir-Alex-Ferguson-unruffled-by-points-dropped-against-Aston-Villa-Football.html

Ronaldo travels to Spain, though he may not start according to some reports
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/ronaldo-heads-to-spain-despite-injury-worries-1033051.html
Villreal got spnaked 3-0 at home at the weekend, preparing for the visit of the European champions?

The past counts for nothing in German football.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/nov/24/bundesliga-stuttgart-armin-veh
There is something to be said for that, but does that mean you don't clebrate the great players of the past, that's going too far.

Deflation seeems to be a bigger threat all of a sudden
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article5219293.ece
I am starting to think the pessimistic stance is the more realistic one myself, after all everything else has turned out to be worse than evreybody predicted.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/stephen-king/stephen-king-if-interest-rate-cuts-cannot-solve-the-money-shortage-turn-on-the-printing-press-1032363.html

Germany in economic trouble also according to Hamish McRae. But they always bounce back, to be in the financial position they were before the credit crunch after taking on East Germany was one hell of an achievement. They are in a better position than us that's for sure.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/hamish-mcrae/hamish-mcrae-nobody-does-it-better--so-the-signs-are-bad-if-even-germany-is-in-the-mire-1030825.html

Larry Elliot on the woes of the British economy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/24/pre-budget-report-uk-economy
and Max Hastings on leadership
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/24/gordon-brown-economic-crisis

Aston Villa 0-0 Manchester United

Well our record at Villa park had to come to an end sometime, at least it didn't end with us losing. This wasn't the greatest of games with Villa sitting back and making it hard for us, chances were thin on the ground. It was a pity Fletcher was injured as i am pretty sure he would have featured in this game.
United were the better team and bossed the posession but found it hard to really make that penetrating final pass. Ronaldo made one good run that saw him hit a fierce drive but Friedal had no problem parrying it out for a corner.Tevez and Rooney worked hard as usual but the only other real chances fell to Park and Vidic in the first half. Park looked to have been put through clean on goal but a brilliant late tackle from Young stole the ball away from him at the last minute. A couple of minutes later he was inches away from converting a cross from Rooney. Vidic went close from a dead ball from Giggs but 0-0 at half time was probably a fair scoreline.
The second half followed a similar pattern with United having most of the possession but struggling to convert the posesssion into chances. Probably the best chance of the match fell to Rooney after Carrick had cleverly lobbed a pass over the Villa defence to give Rooney a chance with a right foot volley but he only managed to put it into the top tier of the north stand. Tevez was replaced by Nani and shook his head in disappointment. I can't see the Argentine being here next season, it will be interesting if Campbell does come back as i think next season would see two products of the youth team in the first team pool.
Villa had a shout for a penalty on the hour after Vidic tangled with Agbonlahor but the ref didn't give it. A foul outside the area would have been the correct decision but he didn't give anything. With Liverpool and Chelsea but having disappointing results some might think that this was chance missed. In a way obviously it was, but i would have took a draw before the game so i am not too disappointed. It looks like Arsenal are in freefall after their thumping at the boo camp, it wasn't just the result but more the performance. Gallas has opened up a right can of worms there.

The Observer match report
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/23/aston-villa-manchester-united

Campbell could return, says Fergie
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/7743233.stm

Rossi the one that got away
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article5212782.ece
I had a lot of time for him, he was a really good player.

Keynes biographer Robert Skidelsky on what the great man would have done faced with todays situation
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/robert-skidelsky-what-would-keynes-have-done-1029916.html

An article on the artist Rodriguez and his great lost album Cold Fact. I have been listening to this recently and it is a classic, amazing that it never sold.
http://www.djouls.com/index.php/rodriguez-cold-fact

New red kids on the block

The next batch of youngsters to come through the ranks hopefully
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/3474126/Manchester-Uniteds-future-is-bright-with-Sir-Alex-Fergusons-focus-on-youth-players-Football.html

Charlton backs Ronaldo
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article5179882.ece

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe is back
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fpwb4

Inflation to fall like a stone
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/biggest-fall-in-inflation-for-16-years-1023539.html

George Monibot on Keynes and Bretton woods
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/18/lord-keynes-international-monetary-fund

Ronan Bennett on the English civil war and a new series starting on channel4 by the writer who gave us the brilliant our friends inthe north
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/nov/14/monarchy-television

I saw John Martyn at the Lowry on sunday night and an excellent gig it was too. It veered more towards the jazz side of things than i'd expected but that didn't upset me. The saxophonist and bassist were allowed to strut their stuff as much as John Martyn on the guitar. In fact that would be my only gripe, as excellent as they both were i would have loved to have seen a bit more of his brilliant guitar work. He did one blues number solo as the rest of the band had a break and it was brilliant. After it he joked he used to do this for a living, it's a pity he doesn't do a bit more now. He was pretty funny between songs too, you weren't sure whether he wasn't a bit barking sometimes, but then he'd make a funny quip just to let you know he wasn't.

Music
Antibalas - Security: I absolutely love this fusion of Afrobeat, latin, funk and jazz. Superb rhythms and great brass creates a glorious groove.
I am kloot - I am kloot play moolah rouge: I thought i had listened to this before i saw them at the free spinningfields gig but i was wrong. Another cracker from one of Manchester's finest, the tracks i heard before the show are the stand outs such as one man brawl, hey little bird and someone like you.
Modest Mouse - We were dead before the ship even sank: Another cracker of an album for the US alternative outfit, though not as immmediate as it's predecessor. I think they are pretty big in the states if not they should be and they should definitely bigger over here, especially when you see some of the dross that passes for indie at the moment.
Seth Lakeman - Poor mans heaven: This has grown on me, i wasn't too keen on it at first. He has still to bring out an equal to Kitty jay for me though.
Tricky - Knowle west boy: Most of this as far away from his trip hop hey day as you can get, but he is still out there. It's an excellent album with an array of different styles but slightly veering towards the rock side of things. It gets off to a good start with Puppy toy other top tracks are C'mon baby, Baligaga and cross to bear.

Manchester United 5-0 Stoke City

It's not too often you win a game 5-0 and all the goals are crackers but that was the case yesterday. The day began with a Ronaldo screamer and ended with another. With Rooney ruled out through illness Tevez partnered Berbatov and Jonny Evans stepped in for Ferdinand.
It took just 3 minutes for United to open the scoring, Tevez was brought down and Ronaldo stepped up to take the free kick. I've got to be honest i wouldn't have minded someone else taking it as he hasn't really been up to scratch with his free kicks since he came back from his operation. But what a screamer it was, i have seen some pundits saying the goalie should have saved it. But i can't agree with that, it was right in front of us and we had a really good view of it. What you don't see that well on the TV is how late it moved in the air and at what speed, it was like a late out swinger at 90 MPH. Unfortunately as Fergie has said this seemed to relax United and they just coasted the rest of the half without really creating too much. We had all the possession but seemed content to pass it around. I was a bit disappointed with Berbatov in the first half to be honest he didn't really contribute much.
The second came in injury time, a great time to score obviously. Ronaldo ran down the left wing and squared the ball to the edge of the box for Carrick who fended of the challengers and hammered home a left foot shot that gave the goalie no chance. Stoke hardly had a chance in the game and it seemed as if they were going to rely on Delap's long throws. That wasn't a great idea as United fans started to boo, whistle wave their hands about aiming to put him off. Amazingly it worked to such an extent that he had given up the long throws before the 90 minutes were up. His very first one did create a bit of trouble as Van Der Sar flapped at it but after that there was no problem.
The second half began as the first half had ended with United attacking and scoring. This time Tevez crossed to Berbatov who controlled it and then volleyed past the goalie at his near post. After that it was wave after wave of United attacks. Welbeck and Gibson then came on for Tevez and Fletcher who had given another excellent performance. Slightly later Manucho came on and Welbeck played on the right hand side of the attack. That is another useful weapon for Welbeck being able to play on the right. I hope we are going to see more of him in the first team because he is definitely going to be a top player. And it was Welbeck who got the fourth with an absolute pearler of a shot. Playing a one two with Manucho just inside the Stoke half he then adavanced and took aim from around 25 yards out and hit a magnificent shot. All around this United had been creating chances with Ronaldo in particular trying to put it on a plate for Manucho. A surging run from Carrick saw ex red Shawcross bring him down just outside the area. Bad idea as up stepped Ronaldo again and this time he hit it low and into the corner of the net to make it 5.
A great day with Ronaldo starting to look like the player of the last two seasons again and a young local lad break into the side for his first premier league game and cap it with a brilliant game, the first of many me thinks.

Ferdinand still rues the Portsmouth FA cup defeat by Pompey last season.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/16/premierleague-manchesterunited
To be honest i don't think it was such a bad thing i'm not sure we had a treble in us and it gave us a nice rest before that big night in Moscow.

Platini wants to ban transfers involving under 18's
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/3463911/English-football-on-a-collision-course-with-Uefa-president-Michel-Platini-Football.html
It may be a good idea, it must help smaller clubs as they will get more money for their players at 18 than 17 or 16.

Will Hutton on the Euro
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/16/comment-will-hutton-euro

William Keegan on the economy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/16/william-keegan-economics-recession

Da Silva's are something special

An article by Daniel Taylor in the Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/15/manchesterunited-premierleague

Scholes could be back for the derby
http://www.soccerglobe.net/2008/11/13/paul-scholes-to-make-return-in-manchester-derby/
Fantastico

Ferguson hits 50
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ferguson-hits-50-with-no-regrets-1019482.html

Who would you back Brooking or a useless ex Tory cabinet minister
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article5159169.ece

Robert Fisk on the middle east
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-double-agents-car-bombs-and-antics-worthy-of-james-bond-1015858.html

Johann on star wars
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-obamas-chance-to-end-the--fantasy-that-is-star-wars-1015509.html

Manchester United 1-0 QPR

Not the greatest game of the season i'm afraid, in fact a complete contrast to the Boro game from the last round. The first half in particular was one to forget. There weren't as many youngsters as i would have liked or should i say there was no Danny Welbeck who was left on the bench.
There isn't a great deal to say about the first half, QPR put everybody behind the ball and let United have it. But United with an inexperienced midfield of Possebon, fellow BrazillianAnderson and Gibson just passed it and passed it but with no penetration at all. I didn't know Welbeck had been out injured so long, it was a pity because it would have ben a good work out for him and it would have given Tevez some much needed support.
United upped their game in the second half and at long last Started to test the goalie Cerny, unfortunately he was up to most of what he had to deal with. The best move of the match saw Da Silva show some dazzling skill to beat his man on the touchline and race towards the penalty area where he fed Park who hit a Fierce shot against the upright.The forward line of Nani, Park and Tevez was pretty disappointing for me, none of the played badly, Tevez as usual worked his socks off, but it just didn't really happen for them. With just over a quarter of an hour to go Welbeck came on and all of a sudden we looked far more dangerous. His speed and trickery were evident immediately and it took just 4 minutes for him to earn the penalty that won the game. Receiving the ball from Nani in the penalty area he tried to run forward to goal but was brought down by a blatant foul. Tevez made no mistake from the spot and that was that we thought. But QPR had other ideas and at long last as they had no option but to attack they sarted to show what they could do for the first time in the game. They did put the ball in the back of the net that was ruled out for offside and had one other decent effort bu the right team had won.

The match report from the Torygraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leaguecup/3441223/Carlos-Tevez-on-the-spot-to-spare-Manchester-Uniteds-blushes-against-QPR-Football.html

Hargreaves out for the season, maybe for good?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/3442154/Owen-Hargeaves-ruled-out-of-Manchester-Uniteds-season-with-tendinitis-Football.html

United in for Xavi
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/3445821/Manchester-United-eye-Barcelonas-Xavi-as-doubts-surround-Owen-Hargreaves-future-Football.html
I've got a lot of time for this guy, he is one of the very few players around who could replace the ginger prince. But i can't believe he will leave Barca or that United would be able to afford him anyway.

David Conn talks to Keith Harris
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/12/premierleague-westhamunited
He seems to go a bit shy of having a go at the Glazers, he must know they are in trouble. Maybe he sees some work their in the future and is keen not to ffend anyone.

Polly Toynbee has a go at the editor of the nastiest paper in the land, but who would be our Stanley Baldwin
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/11/paul-dacre-privacy-daily-mail

Jeff Randall doesn't like the smell of Lloyd's takeover of HBOS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/jeffrandall/3442788/Whats-wrong-with-Lloyds-takeover-of-HBOS-Just-follow-your-nose.html

Hamish McRae on the tax cutting mania being exhibited by out politicians
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/hamish-mcrae/hamish-mcrae-cut-taxes-but-dont-expect-miracles-1012228.html
I'm afraid i'm cynical over this, for me it's just politics and not much to do with economics. Whoever cuts taxes will eventually have to raise them, anybody with half a brain knows that.
Larry Elliot agrees
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/12/economy-economics-crisis-watch-tax

Robert Fox on the Afghan scandal, what are we actually doing there
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/12/afghanistan-helmand

Arsenal 2-1 Manchester United

Not the result i had expected i have got to admit, before the game i had been pretty confident that we would beat them. But then again if we had took our chances we would have would have. We could have been two up before they had their first attack. But i am not going to be too critical if we are going to get beat this is the way i want us to get beat, playing football the right way. We started the game where we had finished it on wednesday playing superbly. Rooney should have scored at least one, Berbatov had a goal disallowed for offside, Anderson had a good chance and we kept on creating chances the whole game.
I can only be critical of our poor finshing and our defending of crosses which was pretty poor throughout the game. I can't believe some of the press reports though, i can't see how they can go so over the top about Arsenal's performance sying that they deserved the victory. I suppose you could say they deserved to win because they took their chances and we didn't but then again the first goal had a big slice of fortune with the Gary Neville deflection taking it past Van Der Sar when it was going to be blocked. I can't b anything about the second as that was a great goal. Van Der Sar's performance was a negative though, i would like to see Foster given a run of games, then we can see if he can be the next number one or not i don't see how we will find out if he keeps playing the odd game here and there. He should at least be the regular substitute, as well know Kuszczak isn't going to be the answer.
We had a clear cut case for a penalty turned down almost straight after they had gone a goal up. That was the kind of day it was, they get a fortunate deflected goal and then we have a blatant penalty appeal turned down. Then we come out for the second half and they produce their best moment of the match and Nasri gets his second goal of the game. I am not sure how good a player he is but he gave Neville a pretty hard time. I am not very convinced by Neville i am afraid, it definitely looks we have the seen the best of him now. And although Da Silva came on and did well and scored a superb goal i would be picking Wes Brown as first choice at the moment. It's a pity he seeems to be injured at the moment. Da Silva is definitely the future but i'm not too convinced his defending is consistent enough yet to be a regualr starter in the big games.
Of course after the second went in United had to go all out attack and throw caution to the wind which meant we did leave ourselves wide open at times. But we just didn't seem to have the luck, when Ronaldo side footed wide stright after the second it seemed pretty obvious it wasn't going to be our day. But to their credit United stuck at it and never gave up, finally getting on the scoresheet in the last minute through an exquite shot from Da Silva.
Two defeats and one draw are not what i thought we we would end up with our three away encounters in the top four encounters but i suppose we have got these games out of the way now and they have all got to come to our place. The snag now though is we really need to be winning those game, any defeat would be an absolute disaster.

The Independent asks what's wrong with United
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/animated-wenger-forces-ferguson-on-to-back-foot-1003690.html
And never mentions Scholes once, even at the age he is now and even when he isn't always at his best we still miss him.

Will Hutton on a new Bretton woods
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/09/bretton-woods-global-economy-imf

I saw Steve Coogan at the Apollo last thursday. I saw him on his last tour in 97 i think, and he was excellent, at the time Alan Partridge was probably the best comedy on the TV. He was great again, the show was divided into two halfs with Paul and Pauline calf, Tommy Saxondale and Duncan Thickett comprising the first half. This was a bit hit and miss, especially the Paul Calf which i didn't think was as good as i had expecetd. But the second half was just Alan Partridge and it was absolutely brilliant. The sketch with the PC in the backgorund had me in stitches, even the final song was brilliant ( i'm not generally a fan of comic songs ).

Celtic 1-1 Manchester United

Well i suppose this time at least we got a draw, as once again we go to Celtic Park and completely dominate proceedings. Fergie decided to rest a few players with Saturday dinner time's biggie at Arsenal. There was no Berbatov and no Rooney, Giggs was brought in to play just behind Tevez. Central midfield was solid enough with Carrrick partnering Fletcher and out wide Nani and Ronaldo. Evra was given a break with O'S hea coming in for him whilst Da Silva was given another outing at right back.
United started reasonably well establishing a majority of the possession without actually creating much. Tevez doesn't look like the rotation policy that Fergie has brought in is going to suit him. I don't know whether he is trying too hard or he is just a player who needs to be playing most of the time but he isn't a patch on the man who was our outstanding player at the beginning of the season.
As last time we played there every time we had the ball we had a wall of 10 green and white hoops behind the ball. Out of nowhere 14 minutes into the game we found ourselves a goal down as a corner that came across was headed out but put back into the left hand side of the penalty area to find an unmarked McDonald who superbly lobbed Foster on his first start of the season. One of the big goalies few touches of the ball with his hand in the 90 minutes. United pressed hard for the rest of the half and did have chances but they were mainly from corners and just wouldn't go in.
The second half saw the introduction of Berbatovfor the disappointing Nani, it could equally have been Giggs to be honest he had had one of his lesser game, what a good job it wasn't as he improved after the break and was in the right place at the right time later on in the match. Berbatov made an immediate impact as United took complete control of the match for the first 20 minutes of the second period. But still United through a mixture of great Celtic blocks, bad luck and nobody having their shooting boots on couldn't get that goal their play deserved.
The intorduction of Rooney and Evra gave United an extra impetus as United now had almost their first eleven on the pitch.
Still it took a wickedly swerving shot from Ronaldo 6 minutes from the end that Boruc could only parry out which the in rushing Giggs managed throw his body at first and get his head to in and into the back of the net. Now was there time for a winner as Celtic were just basically camped in their own half with everybody behind the ball. Well United did try and with the last kick of the match had an absolutely glorious chance to snatch it. A cross from the left found Ronaldo at the back post who rose high and headed it back into the cetntre of the penalty area where the two Celtic players proceeded to make a compltete balls of it to leave the surprised Berbatov with a magnificent chance to put us through to the next stage. Agonisingly he put it just wide and we have to wait one or two more games to go through. Still with the other game ending in a draw we are as good as through, so now we can look forward to saturday. With Arsenal's recent dodgy spell hopefully this will be a good time to play them, we could certainly do with winning our firstgame against on of the big four.

Kevin McCarra's match report from the Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/06/championsleague-celtic

Obama wins big, though even though i preferred Obama to Clinton she would have probably won by a bigger margin.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/barack-obama-wins-his-place-in-history-992750.html

Well i did predict when McCain picked Palin as his running mate that he had gone and handed the Presidency to Obama and it would seem most Republicans now agree
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/05/uselections2008-palin-republicans

What will an Obama presiency mean for us
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/05/foreignpolicy-barackobama
It can't be as bad as the last disastrous 8 years for a start, mind you Bush may be the best thing that has happened for the democrats and American liberals, he has completely discredited the neocon movement and the free market zealots.

Manchester United 4-3 Hull City

It's hard to know what to say about yesterday's game. It was exciting end to end, just what you want to watch, Hull came and took the game to us and never stopped trying to attack. Yet i would think most reds would have been disappointed coming out of the ground. We missed a golden chance to boost our goal difference when Hull got the two goals that had some reds whistling at the end for the ref to call time on the match. And when the Chelsea result came through we realised we really had made a mess of it. The Arsenal and Liverpool results helped to put it into perspective though, at least we won.
The side didn't change drastically Fletcher was rested and Carrick made his first start since the opening day of the season and Rooney came back into the side at the expense of Tevez. United started well and it didn't take long for the first goal to come, courtesy of that man Ronaldo. Berbatov found him with a nice ball and he controlled it first time and hit with his left foot and beat the goalie at his near post. Hull were trying hard but weren't really a threat but they equalised after 20 minutes with a well planned set piece that was headed home by Cousin. United were startled and 7 minutes later they were back in front when a fine counter attack saw Berbatov stride forward with plenty of options, he released Carrick to his left who took aim with his left foot and hit a low shot that went in off the post. It was now all United and just before half time Ronaldo rose above the Hull defence to powerfully head home Nani's corner.
As they went in at the break it seemed like the second half would be the golden chance to improve the goal difference. And when Vidic side footed home a Rooney corner 10 minutes into the second half it looked it was going to happen. Ronaldo missed two golden chances to get his hatrick and Rooney missed a great chance after being set up after another fine run from Berbatov. Tevez came on for Nani and United kept on going forward creating chances and contriving to not put them away.
But with 20 minutes to go it was the away team that scored with Vidic making a valiant attempt to clear it off the line from Mendy's lob but the linesman ruled that it had crossed the line. Still United attacked and still couldn't put the ball in the net. Then with 8 minutes and the match going end to end it was Hull going forward with Mendy taking on Ferdinand down the left hand side of the penalty area and forcing Ferdinand into a clumsy challenge that saw the ref give Hull a penalty. It was a rare poor performance from Ferdinand it has to be said. Geovani made no mistake from the spot and United had a nervous last 8 minutes to survive which they did. But it was a big disappointment to have only advanced our goal difference by 1 when it should have been by 5 or 6.

The Telegraphs match report
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/3331261/Manchester-United-allow-Hull-City-fightback-in-seven-goal-thriller-Football.html

Rooney wants to stay at United for as long as United want him
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_united/s/1077228_rooney_a_red_for_life

Barclays bank, greedy piggies at the trough
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/02/barclays-qatar-capital-varley

Fergie wants a winter break

I don't agree i am afraid, it is a winter sport.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/01/premier-league-winter-break
Football is for winter cricket is for summer, i know rugby league changed but that was after they sold out to Murdoch ( they had no choice to be fair to the sport as it was going bankrupt )

He also has another pop at Generalissimo Franco's team again, having another go at Calderon
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/oct/31/ferguson-ronaldo-real-madrid-manchester-united
Maybe he is angling for a job at Barca, he'd go down a storm with comments like that

Tevez not a happy man. He doesn't like the forward rotation policy, you can't blame him really, when Berbatov arrived he was the best player on the pitch in most games.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/tevez-frustrated-by-rotation-policy-981783.html
But then Berbatov was the man Ferguson always wanted and to be fair most of us would agree that he is just what we needed, a big proper centre forward. With a lot of class of course.

Ronaldo realises he is not the flavour of the month with real hardcore reds, but vows to win us over.
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/08/11/01/SOCCER_Man_Utd_Ronaldo.html

Peter Marron quits as groundsman at Lancashire, sad news he has helped make Old Trafford the best test match wicket in the country for me.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/lancashire/7702440.stm

Two of the better articles i have read about the Brand Ross affair
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/adrian-edmondson-is-that-a-joke-in-bad-taste-youd-better-watch-out-979990.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/howard-jacobson/howard-jacobson-russell-brand-winked-at-me-once-and-when-he-winks-at-you-you-stay-winked-981764.html

With the Presidential election looming on Tuesday a state of the nation piece by the Independent's Rupert Cornwell
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/race-for-whitehouse/is-this-troubled-nation-ready-for-change-981733.html

Christpher Hitchens on Palin
http://www.slate.com/id/2203120/
the phrase "only in America" springs to mind, of course we exported all that milleniarianism nonesense to them in the 17th century.

A real American liberal breathes his last
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/01/studs-terkel-dies-author-broadcaster