Manchester United 1-0 Middlesbrough

A weird night really, united never really seemed to ever hit the heights that we know that they can and yet created enough chances to have scored as many as the mickeys had unfortunately scored at the barcodes the day before. In fact the chances seemed to come and go that regularly you did start to wonder whether it might become one of those nights.
The line up reverted to what we have become used to for most of the first half of the season. Park came in on the left with Fletcher partnering Carrick in midfield and Berbatov returning alongside Rooney.The defence had a changed look though with no Rio and Evra again, Evans deputising for him O'Shea continuing at left back and Rafael Da Silva coming back at right back.
The first half started slowly but the chances did start to come, Ronaldo missed two great chances to score. Middlesbrough were having their moments but without threatning Van Der Sar. Vidic was the next to have a decent chance as he had a clear header but put it wide. The next chance fell to the right foot of Rafael who you felt sure would blast it into the net, but instead blasted it over the ball. The best move of the half saw Ronaldo and Rooney involved in the move that ended with a rasping shot from Rooney that Boro goalie turned over the ball. The last chance saw Carrick inexplicably take a touch after having it put on a plate for him by Ronaldo and the chance was lost.
So even though the passing and movement in the first half had never hit the heights United could have beeen 3 or 4 up. Fergie made no changes at half time but Middlesbrough now started to get more of a foot in the game possession and chance wise and had a great chance that Tuncay couldn't convert. Fergie decided to change things immediately after that chance, bringing on Scholes and Gary Neville. It has to be said that a lot of fans were a bit nonplussed that Neville was brought on for Da Silva, but credit to Fergie he got it right and Neville made a big impact both defending and going forward. Needless to say Scholes made the impression you would expext. His cross field ball for Ronaldo later in the half was the pass of the night.
United now took control of the half and with just over 20 minutes finally broke the deadlock. Carrick was the man who put the cross in that for once the Boro defence couldn't deal with and the ball ended at the feet of Berbatov who made no mistake. How it stayed at only 1-0 is a mystery as Park had 3 chances, one of which it was harder to miss. Another vital 3 points and that game at home to Chelsea is going to be huge.

Ronaldo out of sorts says Paul Wilson, he isn't wrong.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/dec/30/manchester-united-cristiano-ronaldo
He is right about the title chase as well, i would be unbelievably gutted if that 18th title went to Anfield instead for their 19th. I get the feeling that Fergie and the team fancy the Champions league this season when what surely matters to most of us is equaling that 18 title mark.

Ronaldo to have a break?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article5421109.ece

Rooney confident the goals will come, i wish i shared his confidence
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/rooney-confident-of-hitting-goal-trail-to-haul-in-top-two-1218050.html

All,s well at the Bridge i see
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/chelsea/4043978/Luiz-Felipe-Scolaris-Chelsea-showdown-leaves-Didier-Drogbas-future-unclear.html
And with rumours that Abramovitch might want to sell the club too.

How will the January transfer window go what with the credit crunch and recession about to really turn up the heat on clubs finances.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/dec/30/premier-league-transfer-window

A bad year ends for Aussie sport
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/australia/4043914/Panic-spreads-through-Australian-media-after-series-defeat-to-South-Africa.html

More suspicion of the big brother state
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/31/privacy-civil-liberties

Simon Jenkins thinks we it would be wiser to hand out money to the people to spend, instead of giving it to the banks who will just use it build up their books again after their incompetence was shown up by the credit crunch.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/31/simon-jenkins-comment-debate-banks

Israel carries on on the road to nowhere
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-rejects-ceasefire-deal-1218982.html

Where will the Madoff trail end up and what is he going to say asks the indy
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/madoff-so-wheres-the-money-bernie-1218247.html

The resurrection of Stalin in Putin's Russia
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/4015983/The-sinister-resurrection-of-Stalin.html

A new film starring Daniel Craig about the Bielski partisans shows there was nothing black and white about the second world war on the eastern front.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article5420709.ece

Stoke City 0-1 Manchester United

Not the best performance but after coming back from an unnseeded trip half way around the world, the result was all that mattered. I've got to admit it looked like it was going to be one of those days as in some of our other away day we had loads of possession but couldn't seem to create many chances and when we did we couldn't take them. We'll never know for sure of course but the sending off seemed to me to be the turning point.
Losing Ferdinand was a bit off a blow just before kick off but if we are honest it wasn't the worst game in the world for this to happen. And this what the big squad is for and this is when youngsters like Evans must come in and show us what they are worth. And apart from an almost catastrophic misunderstanding between Evans and Van Der Sar in the very first minute he didn't let us down. Surprisingly Fergie elected to play Scholes, Giggs and Gary Neville, this must have been the first time and it may well be the only time he does it this season. None of them let us down but Scholes was unsurprisingly the pick of the class of 92.
Tevez came in for Berbatov to partner Rooney with Giggs picked to play on the left with Ronaldo on the right. It was a surprise to see Giggs on the elft as Fergie has said he would play the rest of his career through the middle. Whilst Giggs didn't stand out at all he was the equal of Ronaldo who once again didn't turn up away from home. In fact Ronaldo's main contribution was to wind up his full back into getting him sent off. To say he is not the player of last season would be some understatement. I don't know if Nani is injured but if he is rated by Fergie you would have thought he would play over the christmas period.
Chances were few and far between the whole game, but fortunately for us Tevez who had been one of our underperformers on the day took his chance after a smart piece of play from the substitute Berbatov. I would like to see Welbeck given a game wide on the right over the next month either coming off the bench or in the starting line up. We know he is skillful, he has got pace, he is pretty good in the air and he scores goals. And that is what we have got to start doing in our remaining away games.

Rooney thinks he is in control
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/3997418/Wayne-Rooney-defends-his-conduct.html

Australian cricket woes continue as Steyn scores 76 for South Africa as he shares in a 9th wicket stand of 180
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/australia/3997288/Duminy-stuns-Australia.html

Ex Aussie captain Ian Chappell thinks Englad must have a good chance in next summers ashes series, pity they won't be playing at Old Trafford when they have such a good record over the last few summers
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/3981824/England-will-never-have-a-better-chance-of-winning-back-the-Ashes.html

Britain falling behind in the rush for faster broadband access
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/28/broadband-uk-ri-christmas-lectures

Will Hutton on the state of the British economy and the future of capitalism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/28/economy-banking

Maddoff may have hidden his ill gotten gains in offshore tax havens. Ironic and fitting that something they all use to hide their money and pay as little tax as possible should come back to bite them on the arse.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/28/bernard-madoff-fraud-investigation-offshore

Manchester United club world cup champions

I wished i could get a bit more worked up about it, but to be honest i would take 3 points at Stoke city on boxing day. It looked like the players were up for it and really wanted to win it if the clebrations were anything to go by. Rooney scored and was the best player on the park closely folowd by Carrick and Anderson. Despite Anderson having a fine game i would hope and expect Fletcher to be back for the vist to the potteries.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/7793438.stm

Inter in the last 16, so much for an easy draw. I don't really think it matters whether you win your group or not. Will we get revenge for Porto knocking us out?
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/special-one-back-to-haunt-united-1204877.html

Trouble at the Arse, off the pitch this time
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/arsenal/3868458/Arsenal-coup-reveals-Danny-Fiszmans-ruthless-streak.html

Henry Poter on the Madoff affair
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/21/bernard-madoff-fraud-daniel-dibartolomeo

William Keegan's Observer column on the economy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/21/recession-madoff-tax-cuts

Music
David Holmes - The holy pictures: An excellent follow up to his previous proper band outing the free association. Driving psychedelia, krautrock mixed in with his usual electronica make for a top listen.
Efterkland - Under gianr trees: It took me a fair few listens to really get this but it was worth it. I'm not sure what you what you would their music as, it has shades of progressive, ambient, classical and traditional folk.
Glasvegas - Glasvegas: The much hyped debut of the the Glasgow band lives up to the hype. It is a really strong debut with now weak points, just great tunes. Their music mixes rock and pop whilst adding classical pieces in an unconventional way.
Kings of leon - Only by the night: I was a bit underwhelmed by this i'm afraid. It's not that it's a bad record, it's just that their last album was so good with it's myriad of interesting influences The Pixies amongst them, and this seems like a big step back away from that.
Primal Scream - Beautiful future: Another exellent effort from Bobby Gillespie and co. A great mix of their usual array of classic rock sounds. The excellent can't go back representing the heavier side of things and Uptown the catchier side of things.
School of seven bells - Alpinisms: It is hard to believe that this group boasts a former guitarist of the Secret Machines so different is the musical style. But maybe he has made a wise move as their last album was fairly mediocre after a cracking debut album effort. This in a different way is an equally cracking debut album. Joining him are identical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza and together they make dreamy yet catchy drone indie pop.

Ferguson against 39th game

Nice to see him come out so unequivocally against this premier league bollocks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/dec/16/premierleague-manchester-united-ferguson-rio-ferdinand-arsenal

United will not appeal against Evra's ban, disappointing, obviously they have been told there is no chance of overturning the decision.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/manchester-united-accept-evra-punishment-1164592.html
It stinks, 4 games for that.

Capello thinks World club cup will do United no favours as the season progresses
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/3792501/Manchester-Uniteds-Japan-trip-could-affect-Premier-League-title-bid-says-Fabio-Capello.html
It's not ideal that's for sure

Jeremy Warner on how investors have only themselves to blame over the Madoof fiasco
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/jeremy-warner/jeremy-warner-investors-should-have-looked-at-madoffs-golf-scores-1135374.html

Galbraith on the great crash of 1929 or 2008?
http://amcsmith.livejournal.com/2158.html
What a superb book that is.

I finished Craig Murray's superb book a couple of weeks ago about his period as British ambassador to Uzbekistan. It's a great read and shows up what a complete shower Blair , Sraw et al all are. This is the kind of thing that went on there during Craig Murray's time and unfortunately still does.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/15/humanrights
It was one of the business cronies of Karimov who has been trying to buy into Arsenal. If Usmanov ever set foot into a british football clubs boardroon we might as well all give up.

I missed seeing Davy Graham died Yesterday, what a brilliant guitarist. Here is the Guardians youtube tribute with pride of place going to Anji
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2008/dec/16/davy-graham-video-tribute

Tottenham hotspur 0-0 Mnchester United

Another disappointing away day for the reds. For whatever reason we just haven't fired away from home this season. We have had some good first halves and some good domination, but for the most part we are not totally controling games away from home like we did last season. I can't fault either Carrick or Fletcher who both had reasonable games, the problem it seems to me is up front. Whether it is not getting the move he wanted in the summer, the injury that maybe he came back from too soon or just whether defenders are playing better against him i don't know. But it is plain to see that Ronaldo is not the force that he has been for the two preceeding seasons. Tevz started the season like a house on fire but once Berbatov was bought and stuck straight into the team when he has got back into the team he has blown a bit hot and cold struggling for consistency. And it has got to be said so far Berbatov has been a bit of a let down to say the least. Fergie seems to be getting a bit hot under the collar by the attention his lack of form has come in far. But even he must be getting a bit worried at his lack of impact in games. He said it wasn't his day yesterday, but that could be said about most of his performances recently.
Losing Rooney and Evra was a big blow for this game because it could be argued and i would be one to argue it that they have been our two most consistent attackers and i say that know even though Evra is a left back. As i have said before O'Shea can come in and do a job at left back but we sadly miss the contribution that Evra makes going forward.
Although United didn't play badly you were never really convinced they were going to score. And indeed we didn't really carve out any really clear cut chances in the first half. Spurs did have a couple of long range efforts, one a speculative long range shot that looked to catch Van Der Sar off his line but the big keeper was up to the challenge diving full stretch to keep it out. When Woodgate went off shortly after this i thought maybe it might be our day even though we hadn't really got going as an attacking force. But it wasn't really to be as the final ball was just never good enough. Lennon had a shot saved and then just before half time Modric had a great chance with a diving header, from our point of view it probably fell to just the right man.
Shortly after half time United had the ball in the back of the Spurs net but it was disallowed for hand ball. I dont think it was deliberate but it's pretty unlikely you will get the decision away from home. Finally United started to get a grip on the game and the chances did start to come. Vidic has a shot saved and Ferdinand might have done better with a header form a corner. Park also went close as United took Tevez and Fletcher off and brought the two old timers Giggs and Scholes on. And it was Giggs who was to go closest for the reds as his superb curling free kick was pushed onto the bar by Spurs once dodgy keeper who seems to have come back into from just in time for our visit.
I suppose you can look at the weekend as a missed opportunity when you see all the other top teams drawing Villa apart. But even though i was disappointed in the display overall a point away to Spurs is not to be sniffed at. It doesn't seem like anybody is going to step up to the plate at present and go on a strong run. In fact with the way Liverpool and Chelsea can't seem to beat anybody at home in the league at the moment and we are struggling away, if Villa can put a run to gether who knows they could be in the shake up for the title at the end of the season. With United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelski all safely in the qualifying stages of The chamions league it probably wouldn't do any harm for Villa to get knocked out of their European competition.

James Lawton on the lack of a Keane type figure at United
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-ferguson-haunted-by-absence-of-character-in-the-keane-mould-1064413.html

A leader article in the Indy that hits all the right notes on the De Menezes affair
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-reckless-incompetent-and-lethal-policing-1064488.html
Cressida Dicks should get the chop according the relatives of De Menezes
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/crispin-black-let-us-hope-the-met-can-do-better-than-cressida-dick-1065881.html

The man who broke HBOS
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article5333439.ece

William Keegan is gloomy about the world economy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/dec/14/economy-recession

Nick Cohen on tax havens
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/14/sark-barclay-brothers-labour

Andrew Rawnsley moving away from new labourism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/14/recession-tax-spending-economic-politics

A Smiths reunion, i can't see it myself
http://www.nme.com/news/the-smiths/41636

Berbatov the jury is out

The Guardian's Manchester man picks up on the rumblings of discontent amongst reds over the Bulgarians performances so far.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/dec/12/manchesterunited-premierleague
It's too early to say yet, but i had expected a bit more from him than we have seen from him so far. I was in two minds whether we should really sign him from Spurs. On the one hand i thought he was just what we needed up front a man with the skill, vision and a bit of presence. but the thing nagging me was the negative stories you heard personality and character wise about him from both Spurs and for his country. Those moaning about his lack of work rate are a bit of the mark for me, let's face it we all knew he doesn't put a shift in work wise. What worries me is that when goes quiet in a game he seems to forget he is participating in it sometimes. Unlike Eric who would disappear for 20 minutes and then pop up losing his marker to make or score the all decisive goals. He has had good games and has had the occasional game where he has done an Eric but not enough yet to convince that he is the player we thought we were getting. I just hope given time he will prove that he is that player because that would take us to another level.

Van Der Sar signs another one year extension to his contract. It's beginning to look like Fergie either doesn't think Foster is good enough or he is worried about his injury record. We can't know about the former as we haven't seen him play enough for United which is a totally different proposition than playing for Watford. But i have to admit i would be worried about his injury record, this is one position that you want your main man in goal in almost every game to give your defence the confidence it needs in the man behind them.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/van-der-sar-signs-new-contract-at-manchester-united-1063411.html

Rooney could face 2 match Euro ban which would effectively rule him out of the next round.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/rooney-may-be-handed-uefa-ban-for-stamp-1062605.html
I suppose after the Evra debacle it's ods on he'll get it.
Jim White ( whose new history of United i will have to buy) on how to curb Rooney's temper.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/3709454/Heres-how-to-tame-Wayne-Rooneys-temper.html

If MUST win this is will be great news for all football fans in the country
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_united/s/1084996_reds_fans_trigger_ticket_probe

The Barca way
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/dec/12/barcelona-la-liga-messi-sid-lowe

Lords to lose out on new proposals
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/3722124/Lords-fears-over-new-ECB-Test-deal.html
I am not too sure what they are moaning about they will probably be the only ground that will be guaranteed at least one test per summer. That sems like a good deal to me.

Hard times ahead for Deroit motor city
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article5328529.ece
Once more ordinary working people paying for the greed and ideology of the rich and the cowardice of the democrats for failing to stand up to them.

The Germans start to remind Brown who and what economic model is responsible for the economic woes we face. Not that it makes them right about what should be done next, but he should be reminded the Germans have stayed where they are Politically and economically. Unlike most new labour politicos who started out on the socialist left then veered sharply to the Thatcherite right making once right wing labour figures like Hattersly seem left wing and now abandoning another set of supposedly rigidly held beliefs.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/germans-turn-the-screw-on-brown-1062874.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/jeremy-warner/jeremy-warner-crass-keynesianism-should-be-replaced-with-pure-keynes-1063033.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-germany-has-dispelled-the-myth-of-britisheu-unity-1062784.html

Sterlings plummet should worry us warns Jeremy Warner
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/jeremy-warner/jeremy-warner-sterling-becomes-a-victim-of-deleveraging-1063028.html

The Times top albums of the year, that top 5 is completely on the money
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5293605.ece

I have just finished watching the DVD of the Alan Bleasdale 80's series boys from the black stuff and it was just as good as i had remembered. The interesting feature was the original Play for today that i had never seen. It is the Middlesbrough incident where they all lost there jobs that is referred to a number of times in the later series. It was good enough anyway but it makes even more sense watching that. I just wished i had watched that first instead of going back watching it as if it was a special feature instead of being absolutely integral to the series. You see the incident that pushes Yozzer over the edge and much else that helps to explain the charcaters attitudes to each other.

Manchester United 2-2 Aalborg

A disappointing result, but i can't say it came from totally out of the blue. With changes made and not a great deal to play for, whatever Fergie said about finishing top of the group, United never really hit top gear. Though you wouldn't have thought that after the first 15 minutes as United could have been 2 or 3 goals to the good.
I couldn't really agree with or even understand the starting line up, there were a couple of positional changes that didn't make much sense to me. I don't know a single United fan who goes regularly or even watches them on the box who thinks that Kuszczak is ever going to be good enough to be the next number 1 at old trafford. So why let everybody including Foster himself presumably think that he was going to start and then start with the Pole. It's time Fergie stopped trying to keep 3 goalies happy, if Foster is thought of as the goalie that will eventually replace the big Dutchman then it should be him and him alone who plays in these cup games. The other decision was to play Gibson on the right hand flank again. His true position i would say is as a defensive midfielder and sadly i am pretty certain that he won't be good enough for United in central midfield so can't see what purpose there was playing him there. And to make matters for him he had Gary Neville behind him. I am not knocking Gary Neville because he has had a magnificent career at United but he can't really get up and down the flanks to overlap his wide man any more. So it meant that United didn't have too much attacking threat coming from the right hand side in the first half.
But the way United started none of that seemed like it was going to matter. A neat passage of passes saw Rooney and Giggs combine to send Tevez through and he made no mistake to give United the lead after just 3 minutes. Minutes later another fine piece of play saw Rooney put the ball on a plate for the Argentine but somehow Tevez managed to put it wide. United were in total control of the game and Jonny Evans also came close during United's domination of the game at this point.
But as can always happen and sometimes does if you don't take your chances and on the half hour Aalborg scored completely out of the blue as a free kick from the right was headed home to make it all square. Kuszczak seemed to be wrong footed, though he did seem to make his mind up a bit too early. Just when we thought we would have to settle for United going in at half time all square when at one time it looked like it might be a cricket score, the unthinkable happened and Aalborg took the lead. A cross from the left found Curth at the back post in acres of space and he took his chance superbly heading into the far corner giving Kuszczak no chance.
The second half saw Giggswho hadn't been at his best, though no worse than Anderson i thought, and Gibson come off. The replacements Scholes and Park gave United a far better balance and United immediately took the game to the opponents. After seven minutes of the half Anderson finally made one of his passes from midfield pay as he he found the great run made by Rooney who finished it off no mistake with a low hard drive to make it 2-2. I like Anderson but i saw an interview with captain marvel a bit ago where he said he had his improve his passing and i would have to agree. He had a much better second period with Scholes next to him. But once again when Scholes comes on you see what you have been missing as he kept it simple and then next minute would spray inch perfect passes out wide to spread the play out.
United had enough chances during the rest of the game to have won it, but it seemed to be one of those nights where it wasn't going to happen. Though Rooney got involved in a bit of a physical scape with Aalborg's defence he still found time to remind us what we are going to miss on Saturday at White hart lane. One fantastic pass that was superbly brought down first touch by Neville looked sure to bring the winning goal but Neville could only shoot straight at the goaliewho put it round for a corner. Tevez had another great chance to give United the lead but after doing the hard part of taking it round the goalie he blasted it wide instead of rolling into the empty net.
But with Villareal unsurprisingly getting beat at Celtic, well they had already got through, United still managed to end the night as group winners. The record isn't that great though 2 wins and 4 draws, still it's getting through that matters and he has been able to rotate the squad during the group stages. I just wish we would have been able to see a bit more of Foster and the unlucky Welbeck who seems to be a bit injury prone at this stage of his career.

Aalborg unhappy with Rooney
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7776630.stm

Fergie not worried about Tevez contract delay
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/ferguson-relaxed-over-tevez-contract-1058972.html

United not hapy about Evra ban
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/ferguson-stunned-by-evra-ban-1058919.html
What a joke, let's hope the appeal gets some reward as we saw last night O'Shea may be able to do a job at left back but he isn't a replacement.

Schuster goes as Real Madrid are in turmoil, Ramos steps in until the end of the season
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/dec/09/juande-ramos-madrid-bernd-schuster
It couldn't happen to a nicer club, will Ronaldo still see them as his dream club. It doesn't look like he would be winning Ballon d'or's any time soon there, especially with my idea of the best player in the world turning it on at Barca.

Sid Lowe on the weekend's shenanigans that led to the departure of the German
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/dec/08/realmadrid-laligafootball

Robert Peston puts the credit crunch into historical perspective
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5309917.ece

Bad and getting worse in the States
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article5309718.ece

Larry Elliot on the solutions and the time and patience needed to remedy our economic woes
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/08/global-economy-credit-crunch-banks

Matthew Norman on the disgrace that is New Labour's ( old Thatcherites ) welfare reforms
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/matthew-norman/matthew-norman-it-takes-a-rich-man-to-pour-such-scorn-on-the-poor-1061132.html
And the timing of it, after we have been told for how many years that the tax dogging fithy rich were the price we had to pay for our countries financial well being. Well it's a price a lot of people that this bill will affect are definitely going to have to pay. And so will the rest of us in one way or another. How will history treat new labour?

The first but not the last famous name to go down thanks to the credit crunch and how many of it's workforce will be hit through those welfare reforms through no good fault of their own.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/woolies-the-sale-of-a-century-1061266.html

Mugabe on fantasy island still
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/11/zimbabwe-cholera-crisis-mugabe

Blur to reform, i hope they do something up here, i always liked them and think Graham Coxon is a tremendous guitarist.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/blur-to-reunite-for-gig-in-the-park-1058879.html

Manchester United 1-0 Sunderland

It's been a while since we have a late late show so it's good to know we can still keep going right to the end. You never know how an opposition are going to perform after they lose a manager, they either just go to pieces or rally and give a performance. Unfortunately the Sunderland players chose the latter option getting every body behind the ball and fighting for everything.
United didn't play badly, it just seemed to be one of those days where if we had got that first goal then there could have been an avalanche. But the longer the game went without that first goal the more belief that the mackems got that they could actually get something from the game.
United had chances with Rooney, Ronaldo and Berbatov all having reasonable chances, but an inspired performance by the stand in goalie Fulop and some determined defending kept United out in a not very memorable first half. The second half saw United step up a gear and take complete grip of the game with Sunderland defending with absolutely every body behind the ball and not even really bothering to even hit us on the break.
I thought Carrick had a good game and he was constantly the one that made the probing passes. Fletcher didn't have a bad game but as the game went on it was becoming obvious we needed somebody from the middle to make some forward runs and drive at them. So the substitution of Anderson for Fletcher seemed the correct move to me. This was the time i thought we started to look like we might actuaally get that all important goal. The introduction of Tevez for Park was important too as he added some much needed work rate up front. Losing Ronaldo with 20 minutes to go should have been a big blow but to be honest he wasn't really having a great game and the introduction of Giggs didn't harm us any. To those of us that always thought the signing of Berbatov would be the final part of the jigsaw it has got to be admitted these are worrying times. Yet again he didn't really make much of a contribution to the game and missed one glorious header from a great Carrick cross that he should have buried. When we bought Berbatov and City bought Robhino on transfer deadline day i thought we had made the shrewder acquisition knowing that the Brazillian was regarded as a good player but too lightwight. Where as we all knew that Berbatov had done it in our league and against the top teams. But i can't say i am as confident that we made the better signing at the moment.
Anderson was denied by by a great block as United kept knocking at the door as time started to fly by. The announcement that there would be 4 minutes of injury time was greeted with some relief. And then the goal came, and it was no thing of great beauty but as the saying goes they all count. I'm not sure why Vidic was up there to hit the rebound in but who cares. As we knew all the results before hand we knew we had to win and win we had.

The telegraph on Ronaldo's walk off
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/3629130/Cristiano-Ronaldos-bizarre-walk-out-overshadows-late-winner-by-Nemanja-Vidic-Football.html

Robert Peston's BBC blog which is always pretty interesting
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/

Trouble brewing in Amsterdam
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/07/amsterdam-crackdown-prostitution-drugs-crime

Will Hutton on the US car industry
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/07/car-future-general-motors-bailout

Manchester United 5-3 Blackburn Rovers

This was a far better game than i had expected, though it's got to be said that was mainly due to the piss poor performance of the opposition. On a freezing cold night this was just what the doctor ordered as all the action took your mind of the temperature. Tevez was partnered by Giggs up front and the central midfield was an all Brazillian affair with Anderson partnered by Possebon. Nani started on the left flank with Gibson on the right . Jonny Evans joined Gary Neville in the centre of defence and Da Silva was the only player on show from the derby on sunday.
The first half wasn't particularly great though and Blackburn even had a couple of decent chances to take the lead but Foster getting a rare start was up to the challenge saving well. United were playing reasonably well but with what was to come they were just warming up really. Gibson saw a header cleared off the line as United upped the pressure and started to totally dominate possession. The first goal came with 35 minutes gone when initially it looked like Tevez had got his head to a Giggs free kick but apparently it has now been awarded as an own goal. Minutes later a one two between Nani and Tevez saw Nani do what he does best beating the goal with his right foot to make it 2-0. It's a pity the rest of his game isn't up to the standard of his finishing as he gave another mixed displaydoing some good things but not enough to make you think he is going to be the real deal at Old Trafford. To be honest i thought 2-0 falttered us a bit at half time we had played the better football but they had created chances though it has to be said they hadn't played football very attractive to the eye and looked very dodgy at the back.
Ince made a change at half time bringing on McCarthy on for Emmerton and he was immediately rewarded as McCarthy got the better of Neville ( not that hard these days i'm afraid) to make it 2-1. It didn't take United long to get their 2 goal cushion back as a nicely wighted ball from Giggs set Tevez away and he was clumsily brought down by Ooijer. Tevez got up to take the penalty and made no mistake . The fourth was a superbly crafted move that saw Anderson surge forward and play a one two with Tevez to put him through on goal with the chance to get his first goal for the club. Unselfishly he crossed it to the unmarked Tevez to pass it into the back of the net to make it 4-1 and all of us at the ground thought that it was Tevez's hatrick.
For some reason United now took the foot off the pedal and allowed Blackburn to sneak 2 goals out of nowhere to make it an uncomfortable 4-3 with 4 minutes of injury time left. But as it turned out it was just enough for Tevez to really get his hatrick witha superb finish with a shot across the goalie to make it 5-3. Great entertainment and maybe more importantly Tevez looked like the player we saw last season and at the beginning of this as hardly ever lost the ball shielding it and being very hard to knock off it. Anderson had his best game for some time and with Scholes coming on for the final 20 minutes and looking like he hadn't been away competition for places is going to be keen over the rest of the season.

Ferguson is happy
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leaguecup/3547040/Manchester-Uniteds-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-hails-Carlos-Tevez-as-Paul-Ince-skips-questioning-Football.html

Keano walks away from Sunderland
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/dec/04/sunderland-roy-keane

What a waste says Henry Winter
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/sunderland/3548012/Roy-Keane-departure-from-Sunderland-a-waste-as-Stadium-of-Light-turns-dark.html

It looks like England's cricketers are going to go back to India. And that is the right thing to do as far as i am concerned, because if you don't the terrorists have won.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/pietersen-very-confident-of-playing-tests-1051467.html

Putin says Russia isn't in a crisis. So it obviously is in one then.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/putin-forecasts-minimal-losses-from-finance-crisis-1052132.html

MUSIC
AC/DC - Black ice: The first AC/DC album in years is ok but nothing more. They were never really the same for me after Bon Scott died even though Black in back was a great album. Not one track of this album would get on their really classic records of the seventies and is suppose that tells it's own story. Nothing stands out.
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles: I really like this, it sounds eighties and noughties all at the same time. I read it called synth pop and i suppose in it's catchier moments it is but it has it's edgier moments too.
John Martyn - London Conversation : I love his early singer songwiter early folk stuff and this is a good example of that work.
- One world: A million miles from London conversation, much more experimental and yet maybe more commercial at the same time. Classic tracks include Dealer,big muff,dancing and the experimental closer small hours which i love.
Rodriguez - Cold Fact: A killer album, this should have been a classic but it disappeared without trace in 1970. I have no idea why because it is absolutely brilliant, there are so many claasic tracks i can't metion them all. But Sugar man is a gem.
The Verve - Forth: A good return from the wigam men, it veers more into History territory than Urban hymns. I always preferred Richard Ashcroft in the Verve than solo as Nick McCabe is such a great musician.
Thea Gilmore - Liejacker: A decent effort from the singer songwriter with old soul and dance in New York amongst the stand out tracks for me.

Manchester City 0-1 Manchester United

A performance to match what the occasion demanded, the occasion being not just the derby but our league position which would have been getting seriously worrying if we'd have had another bad away day. Even the second half sending off of Ronaldo didn't really dent our supremacy.
It looks like Ferguson regards this as his strongest team at least until the return of Scholes. I was surprised that he picked Rafael at right back, but with no Wes Brown i would pick Rafael over Gary Neville myself . Fortunately he was up to the occasion and had a pretty good game.
United got on top almost straight away with the midfield combination of Carrick and Fletcher getting total control of the middle of the park. With Evra and Rafael overlapping to great effect things were looking good. Ronaldo headed over the bar from a corner, Berbatov saw a header brilliant header superbly saved by City's number one Hart. Earlier Hart had almost fumbled the ball straight to the feet of Fletcher but recovered just in time to nick it from the feet of the Scot. Evra was having one of his best games of the season and he nearly capped with a goal but hit it just too high. But for all our domination we almost slipped up as Van Der Sar made yet another bad fumble from a free kick that should have ended with Richards putting the ball in the net but saw him watch the ball hit the outside of the post. But United came back and just before half time at last converted one of the chances we had been creating. A bit of a melee ended with Park winning the ball and nudging the ball to Carrick who hit the ball acroos the goalie who managed to get a hand on it, but only pushing onto the right foot of the incoming Rooney who didn't waste this chance. This was his 100th goal and a there couldn't have been a better time to score it.
It was absolutely vital we had scored after being so dominant as City couldn't be as bad in the second half.
Sure enough City made changes at half time and came out and tried to have a go at United. But it didn't really amount to much and United started to wrestle control of the game back again. The seending off of Ronaldo was bizarre, i was waiting for him to power it into the back of the net. You can't argue with the red card i'm afraid, though you definitely could argue with his first yellow card where he had won the ball legitimately. The game changed here as United obviously had to get a bit more negative and Berbatov was sacrificed. But City still hardly created a thing until the last minute when Dunne had a chance cleared of the line which was followed by a magnificent effort from the halfway by Rooney which almost caught Hart out but he raced back to his area after going upfield for the preceeding corner to make an excellent save.
So a good day which was topped of later by Arseanl going to Chelski and taking the points.

Daniel Taylor on the divs fans
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/nov/30/premierleague-manchesterunited

The Indy on Ronaldo
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/ronaldos-bizarre-red-card-raises-eyebrows-1042834.html

Reality check for City
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/cristianoronaldo/3537233/Painful-reality-check-for-Manchester-City-as-Manchester-United-expose-gulf-in-class-Football.html

I went to see the youth team at Old Trafford in the 3rd round of the youth cup last Thursday and despite the defeat to Chelsea there were a lot of encouraging signs for us. The scorer of the first goal Ravel Morrison looks a real prospect. So when i read reports the day after and found out he was only 15 i was a bit gobsmacked. The scoreline was a bit of a travesty, but unfortunately the central defence was the weak point of the team. Gill's son looked out of his depth and made a couple of bad blunders. United scored first through Morrison and had other great chances that fell to Welbeck and another great run from Morrison that saw him beat defenders for fun but then overelaborate when he really should have scored. The just before half time Chelsea scored twice with virtually their first efforts on goal. United created more chances in the second period but couldn't convert and then another defensive blunder saw Chelsea notch a third goal. To the young lads credit they still kept going forward and Welbeck managed to score a second in the last minute, but it was too late. I wasn,t impressed by Chelsea, they were much like the first team, big, functional and not very pretty. Petrucci came on near the end, the lad we got from Roma that they weren't too happy about and he showed a few nice touches. There seem to be quite a few lads in with a chance from this bunch. The irony of the defeat was thinking how many young centre backs we have brought through over the last few seasons and that this was the weak spot in this team.

Scolari feels the pressure
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/3537476/Luiz-Felipe-Scolari-knows-Chelsea-do-not-take-prisoners-Football.html

Strachan put in the frame to follow Ferguson
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/jeremywilson/blog/2008/12/01/why_gordon_strachan_could_be_the_man_to_succeed_sir_alex_ferguson_at_manchester_united



I have just finished the last series of Six feet under and was a bit disappointed to be honest. The first four series were excellent but i never really believed in the last series, it just didn't work for me.