Bayern Munich 2-1 Manchester United

I suppose the run of results we have had away from home over the last three seasons has spolit us all. We have got used to United just turning up at the San Siro, the Nou Camp and now the equally brilliant Allianz arena and not just getting a result but at the very least giving a performance the equal of the home team. The time was you would go away to the best clubs in Europe and think a 2-1 defeat with an all important away goal was a result you would gladly take before a ball was kicked. But the reason why we went on the sixteen match unbeaten run that ended so disappointingly last night was because we had set high standards. I can't help thinking the game in Milan and last night have shown that our standards have slipped and we aren't the force we were. I think United fans and journalists alike had forgotten before last night that Milan could and probably should have been three goals up before we had an attack worthy of the name in the first leg of the last round. And let's face it that wasn't the best Milan side you are ever going to face. What was worrying about last night though, was, that was far from the best Bayern side either. With three of their best four players not available and a United squad almost injury free, we were probably beaten by the better side over the ninety minutes. And that is the concern for me.
We have got two big, big games coming up now and i can't pretend i am as confident as i would like to be going forward. The defence even with Vidic and Ferdinand back in tandem is not what is has been over previous seasons. If Vidic leaves in the summer we have a big problem at the back, because he is the anchor at the moment, not Ferdinand as it was before the back problems. And though Neville has played reasonably well over recent games it's obvious if we want to stay a European power house we need a top class right back, some time soon.
I am not certain how big our problems are in midfield, short term we are probably ok, but long term we had better be scouting or bringing through some potential Scholes and Giggs replacements. I like the look of Cleverley, though i am not sure what his best position will be for us, on the right or in the middle. But if Gibson was going to make it, this was the season he had to make a breakthrough and that he most definitely hasn't done. I would be amazed if he was still here next season. It's been disappointing the way we have struggled to control the game in the middle of the park against a piss poor mickey team at home and against a far from top class Bayern side away.
That Carrick has played both those games, but rested against Bolton shows how important he is To Fergie's plans in the big games. But he has given us two pretty forgettable performances, we need better than that on Saturday and next Wednesday for that matter. He has done the defensive side of his job as well as ever but his first touch, distribution and decision making has been way off the mark. He has looked a tired player over the last month, if that is the answer then it's a worry. Neither Scholes or Fletcher was that much better last night but with Giggs only just coming back from injury and Gibson obviously not up to it in the eyes of the manager, or most of us for that matter, he has to keep playing them. And i just don't get the adulation of Park. He is a good squad player, but should he be one of the first mames on the teamsheets in a big game, not for me he shouldn't.
I felt sorry for Rooney last night, Fergie was asking miracles of him, the only support he had all night was from Nani, who played reasonably well for about half an hour before disappearing after half time. He can't be brilliant every game and as we saw last night if he is off his game there wasn't much to fall back on. As i have said before i could understand playing Park wide when Ronaldo was here, as in big games we sometimes needed the other wide man to tuck back into midfield to make up for Ronaldo's non existant tracking back. But with that front three he is asking Rooney to give a world class performance every time appears, to make something from nothing at times. As much as i hate to say it oppostion managers can't look at Park, Nani and Rooney on the teamsheet with anything like the trepidation that they would have had when they saw that Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo were the front three.
I can see why he didn't play Valencia last night, he wants to be able to freshen the team up at least a little bit ahead of Saturday morning. But we don't seem to have the squad to be able to do that at the moment. If the choice on Saturday is between rotating the squad to give him the best chance of getting a result in both matches or saying we are top in the league and if we beat Chelsea the league title is ours to lose so lets pick our best team regardless of Wednesday, I would go for the latter, in fact with Rooney hobbling off right at the end ( fingers crossed and crossed again, that it's not that bad) his hand has probably been forced there anyway. Though obviously not in the way we would have liked. We've got to hope that Berba can give as good a performance up front on his own against the rent boys as he did against Wolves and Bolton. I am certain that he can, but he will need more support from midfield than Rooney got last night, and I am not as certain of that. Giggs has to come back into the team on Saturday, i would prefer him in the middle but i have a feeling we will see him on the left in place of Nani with Valencia on the right.
What a start we had last night, to score after a minute was dream time. And it showed what might have been if we had been really up for it and on our game. The defending from the home team leading up to it was comical, Demichelis is apparently a midfielder that Bayern have converted into a centre half and it showed. First he needlessly bundled over Nani, who was going nowhere, and then lost his man and fell over in the box to leave the unmarked Rooney to volley home the opening goal.
I don't go along with all the guff about scoring too early. How can that possibly be the case. Surely knowing that the away goal is in the bag has got to free you up. You know the oppostion have got to take a chance or two eventually and that you will have a great chance to get them a second time on the counter attack. But with nobody getting forward to support Rooney and our midfield unable to get a grip of midfield it didn't happen.
I suppose for the neutral the first half was decent game of football to watch as both sides tried to get forward. Bayern had a couple of pretty good chances, Olic should have scored, and United had a couple, Rooney getting the opener, missing another decent chance and Nani just unable to convert possibly the best move of the match after twenty minutes or so.
The big disappointment of the night for United was the failiure to correct the deficiencies of our first half showing after half time. We could see we weren't getting enough support up front and that we weren't controlling midfield. With the bench we had, the substitutions that were made were about the only ones he could make to try to rectify the situation. Other than going completely negative and playing for the 1-0 that is. But for me he made them too late, it was plain we were struggling, way before he eventually brought them on. As it was they never got a chance to get into the game, especially when that fluke of an equaliser went just five minutes after they had come on. Being the home team that was bound to hand them the initiative and give them the incentive to go all out for the winner. I would never want us to go all negative and to be honest i don't think we have got the players to be able to do that anyway. I am not his biggest fan but a fit Hargreaves would have been invaluable last night. Central midfield, right side of midfield or attacking right back, take your pick, a fit Owen Hargreaves would have done a good job for us. At the moment we don't seem to have the legs in the middle of the pitch , i suppose that's why Park has been playing there. But with Park you get the legs without the strength as we can all see by the amount of times he falls over.
And then came the winner, i love Evra, he's a great player but i have thought for a while that having had to play him in every game, mainly because at times he has been our only fit first choice defender, hasn't done his form much good. Up until December, it was almost inconceivable he could drop a bollock like he did for the winner last night. But he has made a few bad decisions recently, though usually he's got away with them. He didn't end last season in anything like the form he started it in, if memory serves right either, oh for a fit John O'Shea.
So was 2-1 a disaster, no, but it was a great chance missed, to book our path into the semi's and save us a tough game that could have been avoided. Next week will be a hard game, they will have big players back, i presume, but with the away goal if we play to our capabilities we are more than capable of turning the tie around. As for saturday, we have got to get that central midfield functioning back above par again if we are going to defeat them. You would think they will be treating this as the biggest game they have left this season, never mind Wembley. Of course a weeks preperation will not have done their chances any harm either.

David Pleat thinks Rooney was left stranded, no shit sherlock
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/31/bayern-munich-manchester-united-david-pleat

Fergie admits the better team won. I am pretty sure he knows we have problems against the best teams in Europe now. Both in Milan and last night he has been out to the touchline halfway through the first half trying to get a response from his players.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7539850/Sir-Alex-Ferguson-fears-for-Uniteds-Champions-League-dream-after-Bayern-blow.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article7082230.ece

James Lawton reminds us Rooney is not infallible and Bayern are not an ageing Milan.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-ribrys-drive-leaves-united-breathless-1931743.html
I'm not sure of the praise of Ribery though, he played reasonably and beat Neville a couple of times but he wasn't frightening. Zidane, he is not.

Ferguson "hopes" Rooney injury is not serious, it's not a metatarsal anyway.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/wayne-rooney/7539737/Wayne-Rooney-injury-not-terribly-serious-says-Sir-Alex-Ferguson.html

It looks like Mourinho will be on his way, but where, Murkeydive, the boo camp or Franco's mob.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article7082122.ece
Weird timing or what? That's yet another problem i have with him though, it's always about him. The club have a real chance of Euro glory and it's all about him. That's an ego i never want to see at old trafford.

JP Morgan issue revenue warning to Manchester United
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/mar/31/manchester-united-drop-revenue
Not the kind of news the gimps want to be hearing right now.

The bank of England reveal the credit cruch, ie the bankers and financiers, cost this country£7 trillion. Bonus anyone.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/credit-crisis-cost-the-nation-1637trn-says-bank-of-england-1931569.html

Anatole Kaletsky tells the tories they can't have it both ways
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/anatole_kaletsky/article7081905.ece

Steve Richards isn't impressed either
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/steve-richards/steve-richards-and-i-thought-the-tories-had-changed-1930688.html

The Celtic tiger still deep in the mire.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article7082359.ece

Hamish McRae on Chinese confidence and superiority. Until they have democracy and value human rights it will be skin deep though. That's my liberal reading of history though, if history isn't going to be about progress maybe they will be right. If we don't demolish the free market neocon view of the world there won't be progress.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/hamish-mcrae/hamish-mcrae-dealing-with-china-will-never-be-easy-1931451.html

The underrated Black Grape

Rooney ready for defining week of the season

Both Rooney and Ferdinand were on the plane to Munich after missing the Bolton game on Saturday.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/rooney-and-ferdinand-travel-to-germany-1930290.html

Ian Herbert writes that its United's new found stability at the back that has helped push United back to the top of the table. He is on to something there, before the weekends games i had a quick look at the table. I usually just look at the goal difference, but this time i couldn't help noticing that we had conceded fewer goals than either Chelsea or Arsenal. After all the injury problems we have had at the back this season i was amazed at that
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article7079602.ece

Alan Hansen sees a repeat of last years United Barca final at the Bernabau in May. There is a long way to go yet, i have a sneaky feeling that Inter may come through their side of the draw.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7532887/Alan-Hansen-Champions-League-looks-set-for-Manchester-United-v-Barcelona-II.html

Oliver Kay compares the present United team to Fergie's great teams of the past. I would go for the treble team over the 93-94 team, mainly for the defence being better. But the 2006-07 season would be hard to beat for the football we played. That back four was the best we have had under Ferguson with Vidic and Ferdinand superb and Evra and the pre injury prone Gary Neville bombing forward at fulll back. The stronger the back four the more the attack can express themselves. I don't think Ronaldo will ever have a better season than that either.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2010/03/this-season-could-be-fergusons-crowning-glory.html

Ian Herbert again wonders whether there is much point in forcing Fergie to face the press next season.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ian-herbert-making-fergie-talk-is-futile-when-there-are-many-interesting-voices-at-united-1930032.html

The FA may look at Vidic's elbow on Elmander on Saturday
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article7079631.ece

Arjen Robben has been Bayern's main man this season, but is doubtful for tomorrow leaving Bayern's fans hoping Ribbery finally turns up for them on the big stage.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/european/championsleague/7533467/Bayerns-Franck-Ribery-to-fill-space-left-by-Arjen-Robben-with-Manchester-United-next-up.html

Labour to unveil proposals on football ownership
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/28/government-plan-football-clubs-fans

David Conn reckons labour see football ownership reform as a vote winner, i have always thought that which makes you wonder as David Conn does why they have waited until now to propose it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/29/football-reforms-labour-fans

The tories criticise the new proposals
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/7534414/Fan-ownership-plan-a-gimmick-say-Tories.html

The treasury select committee urge the goverment to go it alone on banking reorm as it is in our best interests anyway, couldn't agree more.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/britain-should-go-it-alone-and-shake-up-banks-mps-say-1930131.html

An interesting article from the Guardian where one Spanish voice compares Spanish football to Scotland.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/mar/28/barcelona-real-madrid-spain

Larry Elliot wonders why their haven't been more strikes. They are probably still to come as the cuts haven't started yet.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/29/strike-action-recession-recovery

Whilst Will Hutton worries about a Sino US economic war
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/28/will-hutton-china-germany

The Libertines to reform for Reading, a belting group, i love their ramshckle sound.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/mar/29/libertines-pete-doherty-carl-barat

Bolton Wanderers 0-4 Manchester United

The pressure was on United anyway having to play after both Chelsea and Arsenal, but after the rentboys 7-1 hammering of Villa, United had to respond. With no Rooney and no Ferdinand even on the bench, this was no formality. But respond they did with a cracking performance. Berbatov seems to enjoy playing up front on his own and yesterday was no exception as he continued his good form. It may have took a soft own goal to put us in front but they had been playing well if not quite threatening the Bolton goal as much as we would have liked. Jonny Evans had missed probably our best effort following a goalmouth melee. Bolton couldn't get in the game as Scholes and Giggs rolled back the years to give us a masterclass in keeping the ball. Van Der Sar wasn't completely idle though and had to make a couple of saves in the first half the second of which was absolutely sensational. As usual in a game at Bolton it was no place for the faint hearted and Vidic and Evans stood up to the challenge pretty well.
United continued the good form into the second half keeping possession and making it hard for the home team. And when the second goal went in it was time for United to really open up. Fletcher was in the thick of it as usual and it was his shot that was well saved by Jaaskaleinen but he couldn't stop the Bulgarian Berbatov from tucking home the rebound. Nani who had another fine game then beat his man and crossed for Berbatov to slot the ball home to make it 3-0. When Nani beat his man again he fed the substitute Gibson who had only just come on to fire home the fourth. Three goals in just under quarter of an hour was just what the doctor ordered after Chelsea's goalfest against Villa.
So we go into a crucial week in fine fettle with the news that Bayern got beat and that Robben went off injured and may be doubtful for the game on Tuesday. Two good results and we will be looking at another memorable season, here's hoping.


Fergie is in a positive mood ahead of the game in Munich on Tuesday and he is after away goals.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7530544/Bayern-Munich-v-Manchester-United-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-urges-all-out-attack-at-Allianz-Arena.html

UEFA lays out its plans for the future of football
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article7078254.ece

Patrcik Barclay doesn't think they will Anglo Spanish dominance of the Champions league that we have at the moment.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article7078131.ece

Fun and games at the hammers
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/26/west-ham-gianfranco-zola-david-sullivan
I had thought that Pompey, Burnley and Hull were certs to go down but the growing dysfunctional relationship between Zola and the cockney spivs looks like its dragged West Ham into the mix. If they get relegated it will be down to Gold and Sullivan, and that would be poetic justice.

Chris Mcgreal asks is Nancy Pelosi the most powerful woman in American history
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/26/nancy-pelosi-politician-speaker

Are the republicans in disarray?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7077888.ece

Armando Ianucci tells the Beeb to tell Murdoch where to get off.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/mar/26/murdoch-armando-iannucci-bbc

The Independent questions the Guardian's editor Alan Rusbridger
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/is-the-guardian-beating-its-head-against-a-paywall-1928815.html

Howard Jacobson on form yesterday
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/howard-jacobson/howard-jacobson-one-by-one-the-socalled-pillars-of-our-civilisation-tumble-shamefully-1928767.html

Dubstep

Red knights : No bid yet

No bid until the season finishes according to the red knights in their latest statement to the press.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/8588662.stm

This was about as untinkable a story as you could get in December. United are pleased to announce that Nani has signed a new four year contract. He has started to look a bit more like a united player of late and seems to have added more consistency to his game. He had a pretty good game on Sunday, when it was needed as well. He is nowhere near the finished article though and he still has more than the odd howler, Wolves away was shocking. It seems odd that since his form inproved he seems to have stopped scoring. If he marries his improved form to goals we are talking about a player.
http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={F9E570E6-407E-44BC-800F-4A3110258114}&newsid=6647605

Fergie doesn't sound thrilled on hearing of Giggs reported quotes about thinking of a return to international football. What red is.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article7077064.ece

Reports say Ferguson has taken Owen Hargreaves out of the reserves and thrown him into first team training. I can't make that one out. He looked ok in the comeback match but he didn't push himself too hard, understandably enough. And then come the story that he still has pain in his knees and is still having injections. Strange.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7521436/Owen-Hargreaves-rejoins-Manchester-Uniteds-first-team-squad-for-title-run-in.html

As we near the first leg of the Bayern tie Matt Hughes asks if Robben regrets not moving to United when he had the chance in 2004
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2010/03/matt-hughesmanchester-united-fans-are-right-to-be-fearful-of-facing-a-revived-arjen-robben-in-next-weeks-champions-league.html
He is a very good player, but he is a bit of pussy for me, he can and used to anyway, go hiding in games. Saying that he was superb against Fiorentina.

It's that man again, whilst Gill is in the headlines and would rather not be, Cook gets in them and sometimes you wonder if that's the way he likes it. I can't imagine the Arabs do
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/cook-centre-stage-in-new-everton-rift-1927945.html

David Conn on the ofcom sky dispute that threatens to become an elction issue. If there weren't enough reasons not to vote tory.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/26/sky-ofcom-election-football

"Boy George Osborne" hasn't thrilled his own side with his budget response. What did they expect.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/5865278/osbornes-weak-response.thtml

I can't believe Con Coughlin thinks the Republicans have got their tactics against Obama all wrong.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7526861/Barack-Obama-looks-a-winner-and-has-Republicans-on-the-run.html
This sentence kills me "America is, at heart, a selfish country; the principle that the wealthy should pay to take care of the needy has never taken root." He could have just said it is a conservative country at heart.

Craig Murray writes why class stll matters in the UK under new labour, and how ironically enough it may well be them who benefit in the forthcoming election.
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2010/03/class_does_matt.html#comments

Chris Mullin gives us his parting thoughts on democracy in this country before he stands down after the next election.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/25/mp-parting-constituents-chris-mullin
He is right that the minimum wage definitely helped the poorest in our society. The problem is after that good start there wasn't too much else to shout about for a supposedly distributive party. And the way the rich poor divide has exploded again over the last few years won't be something to be proud of when the history books of this period are written.

Murdoch to go ahead with charging fo online content, obviously i hope he fails. If we are to have eventually charge for online news, and i am not sure we will, we don't want him coming up with the winning model.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/users-to-pay-pound2-a-week-to-read-times-online-1928228.html

And the Indie is bought for a £1
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/lebedevs-buy-independent-titles-to-secure-future-1928187.html

Back to the sixties

United - season ticket prices to be pegged

I had thought this would be the smart move to make PR wise, but on past form i couldn't see them doing it. I suppose it shows even the Glazers understand supply and demand, not just, grab the cash and run. What it means for the red knights takeover plans, i haven't a clue.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/manchester-united-freeze-ticket-prices-1926635.html

MUST claim this wouldn't have happened without the green and gold campaign, there's no doubt about that. Bu i think we are going to need a bit more of a response than that.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7514076/Manchester-United-freeze-ticket-prices-for-next-season-in-attempt-to-appease-fans.html

The Independent report that Rooney hasn't trained all week and must be doubtful for the trip to Bolton. It's a bit worrying this, not so much for Bolton but for next weeks games against Bayern and the rent boys.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/rooney-knee-injury-could-give-capello-a-headache-1926811.html

Hargreaves reveals he is still having injections to relieve the pain from his knee and is not sure about his future before he plays his second comeback game for the reserves tonight.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article7074824.ece

Beckanbauer reckons the brilliant Rooney is, alongside Messi, the best player in the world.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/24/wayne-rooney-england-world-cup

Andy Cole wonders how you stop Messi and argues he is on a different level to Rooney. He is probably right about him being the best player in the world but he is definitely stoppable. Osasuna did a reasonable job last night but the real evidence for that must be to the last two champions league semi final against us and gainst Chelsea. It's not really how i want United to play but it can't be denied that it works.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/the-andy-cole-column-we-all-know-messi-is-great-ndash-the-question-is-how-do-you-stop-him-1926802.html

Under pressure, Mancini cracking up?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article7075024.ece
I still don't know where the performance against Chelski came from, but i'm glad they saved it for that day. Just think City fans, you could miss out on fourth place and have helped us to win another title.

Mike Atherton named sports journalist of the year, he is always worth a read. Good old Mancunian common sense.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article7073568.ece

The Guardian was once a Mancunian success story, it seems to have lost its way even more than i thought. Reading between the lines it would seem the editorial line and the Trusts business sense were swamped by new labour business ethics.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/guardian-chief-to-leave-to-take-over-at-easyjet-1926161.html

Will Hutton is pleased with yesterday's budget as a move away from the tired old pro city model.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/24/budget-2010-sanity-innovation-darling
Whilst Larry Elliot thinks it was politically astute
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/mar/25/budget-2010-darling-neuters-tories
Anatole Kaletsky was unimpressed by the tories and the lib dems response
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/budget/article7075015.ece

I have read plenty of pieces on Obama, and his healthcare victory over the last week. Opinions on him, and the success of his legislative victory vary quite widely. Andrew Stephen doesn't seem to rate him too highly. Though that was written beofre Sunday night.
http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2010/03/president-cheney-bush-obama

Roger Ebert salutes Obama and the humane values he espouses.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/23/obamacare-is-victory-i-welcome
Obama has always taken the long view and kept cool under fire according to Sasha Abramsky
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/mar/24/healthcare-barack-obama

Dean Baker asks why we should take credit rating agencies at face value.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/mar/23/us-debt-rating

Sarkozy's popularity in Farnce is sinking fast.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-lichfield/john-lichfield-the-deflation-of-president-sarkozy-1926884.html

Some classic Elvis Costello

Chelsea game vital

according to the ginger prince. Winning would go along way to helpng us to make it four in a row, but i suppose it's just as vital we don't get beat. I am pretty confident that we will do the business to be honest. We seem to have the sign over them at old trafford at the moment.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article7071795.ece

The telegraph speculate that Rooney may be rested at the weekend before the three games against Bayern and Chelsea after limping away from old trafford at the weekend. Whilst the guardian reckon there is nothing wrong with him and that he will be fit to make the short trip to the Reebok.
If he has got a niggle it may be an idea to leave him on the bench, if we struggle they can always bring him on. If there is nothing wrong with him at all on the other hand he should play.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/wayne-rooney/7500182/Wayne-Rooney-set-to-be-rested-for-Manchester-Uniteds-visit-to-Bolton.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/22/wayne-rooney-fit-manchester-united

Ribery should be fit to face United according to Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. I am fairly confident that we will get through this tie, but our defence has to be on top form against Ribbery and Robben. If they had a top class centre forward to go with those two that would be a formidable attack. Fortunately for us the rest of the team doesn't anywhere near approach the level of those two. I fancy Rooney to cause them all sorts of problems at the back.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7503899/Bayern-Munichs-Franck-Ribery-fit-to-face-Manchester-United-in-Champions-League-quarter-final.html

David Aaronovitch analysies Stephen Byers and new labour
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/david_aaronovitch/article7071759.ece

Max Hastings writes he has never seen the US so split down the middle after Obama's healthcare triumph and puts most of the blame on the republican right. And that's from the ex editor of the Torygraph.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1259930/Barack-Obamas-healthcare-reform-passed-America-split.html

I finished watching the last series of the Shield at the weekend and it didn't disappoint, absolutely brilliant. I always feel a bit empty after the last episode of a great series. I suppose it's because you know that's the last episode you will ever see where you don't know what's going to happen.

David Holmes

Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool

Not the performance i was hoping for but definitely the result we needed. Without playing anywhere near our best we deserved to win as Liverpool put the effort in as usual without actually showing that much ability to play football. Fortunately United without playing well did show enough to put the moves together to control the game after the first twenty minutes. The result at Ewood park put the seal on a top Sunday afternoon.
United started with Nani and Valencia wide and Park in the middle once again with Carrick and Fletcher. I can see why he played Park in the middle, to combat the amount of work Liverpool get through in the middle of the park trying to stop you from playing. But to me it was at the expense of the quality in midfield that we sadly missed at times. I would have preferred Scholes or Giggs to give us that bit of class to keep the ball and find the passes that we didn't really manage all afternoon. That's no criticism of Park who had a fair game, but that wasn't a very impressive midfield performance for me. Fletcher gave his usual all action display and it's no coincidence that we missed him for the last three defeats to the dippers. But Carrick gave a performance that i can only call a mare. With Park and Fletcher as his two partners in midfield it was up to him to provide the creativity. All afternoon he was to slow in his head and at his feet. I have always thought he plays better with Scholes next to him as he doesn't seem to relish the responsibilty.
I thought the front three did quite well with Rooney absolutely outstanding and Valencia not far behind. Nani had a fair game and linked up well with Evra who was the pick of the defence. Once again, against Liverpool, our defence wasn't really at the top of it's game. They looked scared stiff of being exposed by Torres and it didn't take long for the first mistake that led to their opening goal. Carrick lost the ball to Torres, but i thought Ferdinand could have snuffed out the danger. Instead he hesitated and Torres ran through and gave the ball to Gerrard who put the return centre straight onto the unmarked Spaniards head and he beat Van Der Sar with his head, no problem at all. Yet again we had gifted our biggest enemies a gift of a goal. Thankfully the lead didn't last long as Valencia ran through on goal only to be brought down by Mascherano. The initial contact was made outside the box, but he still had hold of him in the box when Valencia finally went down. The dippers complained and Benitez is still whining today, but it was penalty as far as i'm concerened. I didn't think it was a sending off though as Ferguson apparently did, for me the offender has to be clearly the last man and i didn't think that was the case. Not that i thought it mattered, he was on a yellow so he would either have to stop playing his normal game, affecting their abilty to stop us playing or he continued to play his normal game and get a second yellow. He took the first option and didn't really have that much of an influence on the game. As one of the only three outfield players that would get near playing in a class team that was a pretty good result for us. It didn't do us much harm that Gerrard was hardly in it either. Torres tried a bit of gamesmanship by scuffing the penalty spot and maybe it worked because Rooney didn't take a great penalty but luckily for him and us Reina's save ran straight back into his path and he made no mistake second time around.
The chances were few and far between for the rest of the half but Park had one of them but could only head Valencia's great cross wide. So we went in at half time deservedly level but playing nowhere near as well as we had hoped.
We came out in the second half and started to control the contest without going up a gear as we had hoped. When the winner came it came courtesy of the only really quality move of the match which saw Neville overlap to give Fletcher a bit of time to pick out Park in the middle who arrived late to dive and head home. I have to give Vidic some credit after his past nightmares against Liverpool as he had a fine game yesterday and was the more reliable of the two centre halves. At this stage of the game we seemed to have control of the game as our defence seemed to have Torres shackled and Liverpool's midfield were incapable of creating anything. Still we didn't really look like getting a third. I would have brought Scholes and Giggs on earlier to try and bring the quality into the midfield that could create the chance to kill the game off. Instead by the time they did appear Liverpool were now trying to salvage something from the game and United were starting to hold on a bit. And almost at the death we really did nearly throw it away as Gerrard eventually got himself into the game and crossed into the box for Torres who missed an absolute sitter and even then the ball popped up to the head of Benayoun who could only nod it tamely into Van Der Sar's hands. So now we are top of the table and none of our opponents have games in hand. If we beat Chelsea at home we have an outstanding chance of making it four in a row and 19 of course.

Henry Winter's match report in the Teletgraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7493225/Manchester-United-2-Liverpool-1-match-report.html

The Teletgraph also reports that Rooney limped away from the stadium yesterday
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7494956/Wayne-Rooneys-limping-exit-from-Old-Trafford-raises-fitness-worries.html

Fergie sings the praises of Park
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7497170/Manchester-United-manager-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-hails-Ji-sung-Park-after-Liverpool-win.html

I have managed to watch Barca's last two games, though missed the victory over Barca, but Messi is on fire and in Catalonia they are comparing him to the very best. I would definitely say he is the best player in the world at the moment. It may well be that Rooney is closer to him now than Ronaldo is.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/mar/22/leo-messi-barcelona-la-liga-spain

Anatole Kaletsky thinks the emegency economic measures taken by the government after the credit crunch have worked well. But he thinks we are now at the next stage where realistic plans for cuts will have to be made to continue the recovery.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article7070407.ece

The house of representatives passed the vital bill bringing expanding healthcare insurance giving Obama his first unalloyed triumph as president.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-house-approves-sweeping-healthcare-overhaul-1925167.html

Andrew Sullivan forsees a future president Cheney and blames Obama
http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2010/03/president-cheney-bush-obama

Brian Eno

Ferdinand over injury hell?

Rio reckons the game at Anfield forced him confront his injury nightmare head on. As i have said before, i don't think he has got over it, he still hasn't put a totally convincing performance in since he came back even if our defence has looked streets better.
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/760305/RIO-I-HID-INJURY-HELL-FROM-UNITED.html

Fergie talks of the hatred of United - Liverpool, but wonders if it's our biggest game anymore, it still is for me.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/teams/england/7490063/Manchester-United-v-Liverpool-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-fans-the-flames.html

Giggs on why he was happy to leave the glamour and fame to Beckham, that turned out to be tremendous news for our point of view as his career shows no sign of ending yet. In fact i would be more than happy to see him in midfield today.
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/football/760311/BEING-A-POSTER-BOY-SUITS-BECKS-BUT-NOT-ME.html

Nani believes United are now starting to see the best of him.
http://rapidshare.com/files/363784477/I.O.U.S.A..part5.rar
He has played reasonably well but even if we went on to win the either the league or champions league i'm afraid i would still have my doubts. I need to see him do it consistently over a season before i say he is a United player.

The independent's Steve Tonge writes that the stakes are high for both teams today. But not for the same reasons, obviously. We have to enjoy great these days, on the pitch, what a contrast to the 80's when the shoe was well and truly on the other foot, even if we did usually seem to turn them over when we actually played them.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/bitter-enemies-with-different-targets-1924705.html

Munchen in March, i hope it's as great a trip for the reds going as it was for us in July, it's a great city. As for the draw, it couldn't have been much better really as we avoided Barca and Inter until the final. I saw Bayern beat Fiorentina and whilst Robben was on fire their defence doesn't look anything to write home about, though it did have a couple of injuries on the night. That tie will all come down to how well our defence plays, so whilst i'm fairly confident, i'm not totally confident. The best part of the draw is it has given no hard away trips before any of our remaining league games. So if we don't win the titlewe, will have no excuses.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7483195/Champions-League-draw-Manchester-United-to-party-like-its-1999-against-Bayern-Munich.html

New signing Smalling looking forward to the big time at United
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/fulham/article7069657.ece

The Observer reports that the red knights will make their move in June, no quotes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/21/red-knights-bid-manchester-united

Cable ready to be chancellor if their is a hung parliamentafter the next election in a coalition. That all seems a bit previous. My first thought would be surely either the tories or new labour would want the the most important office of state for themselves if they have the most votes. But then i thought whoever is made chancellor has got to make some pretty unpopular decisions. So maybe tactically it may not be the worst move, especially if they call another election not too far into the future. Then maybe either of the main parties would find it useful to be able to put the blame on the Liberals. I still can't see it though, whats the point of being in power and not excersising it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/mar/21/treasury-vince-cable-hung-parliament

Ex new labour and uber Blairite proud of helping big business. for hire. Not a total shock.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7068820.ece

A bit of classic Sabbath

Glazers to refinance again

Desperation, surely. Who would lend them the money this time?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article7066291.ece

The red knights aim to bring another big hitter on board as the Glazer's "consider" another season ticket price hike to help clear off the debt.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/17/red-knights-manchester-united
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/17/glazers-manchester-united-ticket-prices
The price rise doesn't surprise me but i hope MUST are keeping are as involved as they say they are over the red kights bid. I read the red iss interview with Keith Harris and was less than impressed. The more i read about this bid, the more it looks like the pre Glazer board are trying to take back control of the club. Whilst that is obviously a far better scenario to the one we have at present, it's not quite in keeping in what we have led to believe with a fan influenced ownership.

Park is happy with his lot at United, and is confident he is not just here to sell shirts in Korea. We know he isn't but if Fergie was offered a top goalkeeper in the summer and the selling club wanted Park as part of the deal, what do you think the gimps would say?
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/park-part-of-uniteds-landscape-1922231.html

Denis Irwin hails Patrice Evra as United's player of the season and as the best left back in the world. I'd go along with both of those assessments, though his form has dipped a little bit of late. But that's undrestandable he has played almost every game. Another downside of O'Shea's injury has been a lack of anybody to come in and give him a rest.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/evra-is-manchester-uniteds-player-of-the-season-says-irwin-1923349.html

The Telegraph run a piece on forgotten man Owen Hargreaves.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/teams/england/7467578/World-Cup-2010-Owen-Hargreaves-still-desperate-to-join-England-at-finals.html

United not happy at the FA's double standards as Gerrard will receive no punishment after TV camera's caught his elbow on Brown on Monday night. What did we expect. I would think Spurs Villa and City are even less impressed.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/16/steven-gerrard-liverpool-manchester-united

Oliver Gill is the harsh recipient of friendly fire in the fight against the Glazer's.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1258424/Manchester-United-fans-target-Oliver-Gill-father-Davids-pro-Glazer-stance.html

The Guardian report on United's lost Anfield " home " game
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/mar/17/manchester-united-home-anfield-1971

After last night's thoroughly deserved defeat at the hands of the " special one's " Inter Milan ( they have improved a bit since we played last season haven't they ) Patrick Barclay reckons the next ten days will be crunch time for Ancelotti's Chelsea.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/patrick_barclay/article7064748.ece

David Pleat reckons Chelsea were uninspired and Inter didn't have to do that much tactically to stifle them last night.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/mar/17/david-pleat-chelsea-internazionale
I couldn't believe how much Inter dominated the second half, the rent boys were never in it.

David Conn reckons a new stadium is futher away than ever at Anfield.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/mar/17/tom-hicks-george-gillett-liverpool-anfield
They look like they are in trouble, if as looks likely, hopefully even more likely after Sunday, they don't come fourth.

The truth will out on Benitez though as Riera has a go at the managers methods and describes Liverpool as a sinking ship. I hope he it gets torpedoed beneath the water line on Sunday.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/liverpool/7470622/Liverpool-a-sinking-ship-under-Rafa-Benitez-says-Albert-Riera.html

Puyol says Barca won't get carried away after last nights cruise control win over Stuttgart. Messi was magical again, he would probably still be my player of the year but they didn't play anybody last night. They are the team to beat though, of that there is no doubt.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/puyol-warns-against-barcelona-overexcitement-1923347.html

Dominic Lawson speculates on a world without opinion polls. In my ideal world this country would have proportional representation and a ban on opinion polls during general election and referendum campaigns.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-polls-do-much-more-for-the-pollsters-than-for-the-public-1921848.html

Andrew Stephens thinks Obama has six months to turn things around or become another failed democrat president.
http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2010/03/obama-emanuel-house-axelrod

Mary Dejevsky assesses the 25th anniversary of Perestroika
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mary-dejevsky/mary-dejevsky-illusions-that-the-anniversary-of-iperestroikai-should-dispel-1921854.html

Wole Soyinka laments the state of his country Nigeria, and argues it is turning into a failed state.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/nigeria-is-falling-apart-says-nobel-prizewinning-author-1921835.html

Anatole Kaletsky reckons that next weeks budget could be electoral crunch time for the tories, not the government.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/anatole_kaletsky/article7066154.ece

Ashcroft threatens the Beeb over Panorama episode, what were they saying about Unite, it stinks. Whether Unite's actions are right or wrong, it is at least democratically accountable.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ashcrofts-lawyers-silence-panorama-1923210.html

New documentation that would probably have been part of that investigation have been released by the BBC and show that the tories were wrong to say ( weasel words, lie would be better ) that Ashcroft would pay millions more in tax and that his peership not political. Laughable.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/mar/18/william-hague-2000-lord-ashcroft-tax-status

Music
Fuck Buttons - Street Horrsing: Their albums take some getting into but i think they are worth the effort. I'm not sure they can go on making album after album in the same vein though.

John Martyn - Grace and danger: The album he made whilst he was breaking up with his first wife, and that his record company delayed bringing out. A great album with some top tunes though not as musicaly adventurous as some of his work.

Mogwai - Young team: The debut album from the Scottish outfit sets the tone for their instrumental guitar rock sound. Not the easiest listen but eventually rewarding, it's a totally unique sound.

Monsters of folk - Monsters of folk: A superb album from the US indie supergroup. Not a weak effort on it.

Patrick Wolf - The bachelor: I really liked this with Wolf's violin and vocals giving the indie a real folk twinge. Though it goes all over the place with its influences.

The Horrors - Primary colurs: I didn't listen to the first album, i had heard a track and read reviews and wasn't enthused enough to search it out. But i read the good reviews for this without hearing anything from it. So when i got round to listening to it i was pleasantly surprised to see the reviews were right, this is a very good record. I have read one review describe it as cross between garage rock and Joy Division type post punk and that's a good description.

Wayne Shorter - The soothsayer: Miles Davis's sax man from the 60's who was also a star man in his own right. A tremendous jazz album.

Manchester United 3-0 Fulham

I expected us to win this game but i didn't expect us to get an easy game. It went pretty much to script. They have turned into a well organised outfit under Roy Hodgson and they are no pushover for any of the top sides any more. I was hoping the fact that they had played in Turin on Wednseday night would help us. And it certainly seemed to help as in the last twenty minutes as we couldn't raise our game to get the second goal to kill the game off they were unable to put any real pressure on us.
Without playing anywhere near their best United did create the chances that could have settled us down in the first half. Nani put in a cracking little cross that Berbatov should have at least hit the target with. Then Berbatov played a glorious pass through to Fleycher whose cross was just slightly behing Rooney and he couldn't manage to get enough on his effort to trouble Schwarzer. Another chance saw Rooney chest the ball into Berbatov's path but he couldn't get his shot through the defensive wall that was the Fulham defence.
United were creating chances without really dominating the game. Our midfield were having a bit of an off day with neither Fletcher or Carrick on top of their game. Valencia was suffering from a lack of supply and couldn't get into the game. Fulham were managing to stop us bossing the game but weren't really creating much. Their best chance was a Murphy chip forward that Zamorra couldn't get on target.
The start to the second half couldn't have got off much more to plan as Rooney scored the opener almost straight away following a one two with Nani as slotted home the wingers cross. Ferdinand almost hit home a superb volley from a Valencia corner but United couldn't find a second. As the game wore on United seemed a touch tired and were struggling to raise their tempo to get the second. Unfortuantely with Scholes having been withdrawn form the subs bench there wasn't much on the bench to bring on to change things. Hopefully Giggs will be back next week as his reintroduction can't come soon enough. Fulham couldn't raise their game though and apart from the chance to Zamorra didn't create anything of note. That was a real chance though, and athough it was a great recovery tackle from Vidic, Zamorra probably should have at least have got a shot away.
They were made to pay when a sublime piece of control and then a great run saw Berbatov cross for Rooney to get his and United's second five minutes from time. And almost on the stroke of time Nani, now on the right, put over a perfect cross for Berbatov to finally put in one with his head at the third attempt. That was a very nice final five minutes as the title could yet come down to goal difference.

Paul Hayward on the most potent England forward since Bobby Charlton, Wayne Rooney.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/mar/14/wayne-rooney-england-bobby-charlton

A good column from Patrick Barclay on the star that is Wayne Rooney and further on down a savage but perfectly correct assessment of Shaun Wright Phillips real worth.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/patrick_barclay/article7061636.ece
Some of us half expect them to change the away strip to gold and green next season, i don't think they would be embarrassed for one minute.

Berbatov hopeful fourth title is on it's way.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1258005/Manchester-United-star-Dimitar-Berbatov-insists-champions-heading-fourth-successive-Premier-League-title.html
Since Christmas he has been one of our most consistent performers

Beckham out of world cup
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/davidbeckham/7444357/David-Beckham-ruled-out-of-World-Cup-after-tearing-Achilles-tendon.html

Ex tory minister Mawhinney bows out of his role as chairman of the football league arguing that a salary cap is inevitable and that the business model of football in this country is broke. Probably correct and totaly correct.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/salary-cap-inevitable-says-mawhinney-1921632.html

Mancini gets giddy after a last minute equaliser gains them a point at Sunderland. If they play as they did for the first 45 minutes they won't finish 5th never mind 4th. They were woeful. Fair play to them for the second half but the substitution of Jones totally transformed the game leaving Sunderland no outlet. Steve Bruce has a lot of work to do there, the lack of quality in the team when Kenwyne Jones went off was relegation standard.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/manchester-city-have-rivals-in-sight-1921641.html

Crunch time For Liverpool at the end of this season reckons Alan Hansen.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/liverpool/7443528/Alan-Hansen-Whoever-invests-in-Liverpool-had-better-have-deep-pockets.html
I didn't know they had to play tonight Thursday and then come to our place on Sunday, that isn't just a chance to beat them, it's a chance to wallop them and almost make certain they will have no champions league football next season. I can't wait.



More punk from the Ruts

Fergie cans sense a record fourth title on the trot and a record 19th title as we enter the finishing lap.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/ferguson-senses-record-fourth-title-in-a-row-1920635.html

James lawton writes how the midweek champions league results emphasised the importance of team building to team buying. To be fair to Milan i'm not sure that is their main problem, though the signing of Ronaldhino and loan signing of Becks maybe does show that they have started to go down that route.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-fallen-giants-given-lesson-in-teambuilding-1920158.html

Robert Peston gets down to the nitty gritty of the amount of money he thinks it will take to buy out the Glazer's now things have got serious with Nomura being on board.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2010/03/man_utd_the_takeover_maths.html

Dan Roan of the BBC reports on a good week for the gren and gold anti Glazer cause. He makes an interesting point when he says they have rejected two super wealthy offers of hundreds of millions. His explanation being they only want proper United fans, i'm glad to hear that because that is the kind of thing i want to see. But i have read other reports saying they are looking two wealthy anchor funds. So two different visions of the future or someone speaking out of turn?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/8562624.stm

Keith Harris pops up again this time in a piece form an interview in tomorrow's new edition of red issue. That all sounds very vague, he doesn't really fill me full of confidence. We know it's O'Neill really running the shop, how in the loop is Harris?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/12/red-knights-season-ticket-boycott

Rio adopts new training scheme according to all this mornings reports. I thought he was already on a different traing pattern.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/12/red-knights-season-ticket-boycott
Fergie is right though it is good to have them back together. They aren't what they were but they still compliment each other well.

Giggs to be back for the dippers game, nice. We better put on a performance after the last four shockers against them.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1257601/Manchester-United-winger-Ryan-Giggs-destroy-Liverpools-title-record.html

Terry Venables thinks Gary Neville could till do a job for England and gives him him the credit as a player that his career deserves. He is absolutely right to praise his career he was the best right back in this country by a mile and one of the best in Europe. Cafu was better but Neville was as good as anybody else. It always makes me laugh when City fans in particular have a go at him when they bigged up Richards as a great defender.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/sunsport_columnists/2890815/Nev-can-still-do-it-for-England.html

Lancashire CCC club get the go ahead for the ground redevelopment. I'm glad it will go ahead but wish they hadn't to rely on the tesco plans
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/cricket/s/1200067_lancashires_test_dream_alive_as_32m_old_trafford_plan_approved

Clegg seems to be all over the paper at the moment. I will be voting for them but i wasn't happy when they elected him as leader, he's far too rightwards leaning for me.
Matthew Parris thinks he would happily do a deal with Cameron's tories, this is what other pundits think but almost every other writer thinks the party would never let him do it. Well i hope they are right and Parris wrong, because if they did a deal with the tories i would probably never vote liberal again.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article7060303.ece

Is this to appease the social democrat wing of the party.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/mar/12/nick-clegg-bank-tax-recession-lib-dems

More embarrasment for the city as London implicated in concealing Lehman brother debts.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/london-link-to-50bn-lehman-coverup-1920701.html

Classic punk rock from the Damned

United clamp down on protest

Players banned from speaking about the protests, Pravda TV edited to take as much of a green and gold protest of the screen as they can manage. It becomes more totalitarian by the day.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/12/manchester-united-ban-players-glazers

Gary Neville thinks United are lucky to still be in title race. I suppose you could say that but it's not United's fault that no team has took advantage of that. And with City, spurs and Villa all improving there are more potential banana skins for top 4. Or should that be top 3 as Liverpool will surely struggle to come fourth after monday night. Nice result last night, "thursday night channel 5".
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article7059049.ec

Rooney claims he is a wiser player nowadays as he conserves his energy better after advice from Fergie. I did notice that he wasn't chasing every last ball on wednesday night once we got the first.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7423139/Manchester-Uniteds-Wayne-Rooney-to-heed-injury-warning-as-season-reaches-climax.html

Gill tells us that the Glazer's are going nowhere as he announces a new Malaysian spomsorship deal.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/glazers-going-nowhere-declares-gill-1919991.html

Martin Samuel on the part Ronaldo's exit played in the excellent form of Rooney.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1257051/How-Cristiano-Ronaldo-s-exit-turned-Wayne-Rooney-real-deal-Manchester-United.html

Portsmouth's players do their bit to confirm your worst perceptions about the greed in the game, with two honourable exceptions.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/16380000aweek-footballers-fail-to-take-pay-cuts-to-save-club-cleaners-1919453.html

Pelligrini's days are probably numbered writes Sid Lowe as the fallout from Real's exit from the champions league begins. Sounds like the same old Real Madrid, great.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/mar/11/real-madrid-pellegrini-champions-league

John Pilger writes about the influence Murdoch has in Australia
http://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2010/03/pilger-australia-murdoch-media

Andreas Whittam Smith has a go at the government for the fetishisation of targets
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/andreas-whittam-smith/andreas-whittam-smith-there-is-nothing-as-stupid-as-targets-1920134.html

Eric Dolphy, some real jazz club stuff, i love it though.

Manchester United 4-0 AC Milan

Great picture of last night from the Guardian

I'm not sure why but i wasn't as confident as i usually am before a game yersterday. Maybe if Ronaldinho had put the header away or Huntelaar had controlled the ball when put through during that exciting end to end first twenty minutes things might have been tighter. But when Rooney headed home Gary Neville's one decent cross of the first half, the night became a lot more comfortable for United.
I don't think i was the only one worried that Fergie had picked Gary Neville came in to replace Rafael but fortunately he had one of his better matches. Park going into central midfield which had seemed the obvious move with Carrick suspended was the other decision that Fergie had to make. I am not Park's biggest fan but he has been outstanding over the last few games and last night he was playing in what is probably his best position. And it wouldn't surprise to see him play there more regularly in future, especially in Europe.
I still think our defence is not what it was but if we play like that going forward we can only hope that it will be enough to get us through to the final in Madrid and to see us in contention until the last day of the season in the title race.
Once again Rooney was outstanding and the header for the first goal typified his improvement of late. As one journo has remarked this morning none of the seven consecutive headers that he has scored have been gimme's. On every one he had work to do, either aiming for the corner or getting enough power behind it to beat the goalie. And last night's first was no exception as he hit the corner of the net to give the goalie no chance. That seemed to settle the game as United took complete control after that. Nani had an in and out game. In the first half he gave the ball away too easily but had one cracking shot that Abbiati did well to save. Park was having a great game snuffing out Pirlo but managing to get forward and as the game progressed he was making more and more runs.
As Ferguson said after the game the second goal completely killed Milan off. From the Italians perspective it was a bit of a disaster as Tiago needlessly lost the ball to Nani who raced forward and played the pass of the night through to Rooney who beat the goalie with ease to make it 2-0. Now it was time for United to enjoy themselves and they did just that when Scholes inch perfect pass put Park in on goal and he finished the chance with aplomb to well and truly kill the game off. United took the opportunity to give Rooney a rest with 20 minutes to go as Milan gave Beckham a run out at his old home at about the same time. He is obviously not the player he was but the one thing he can still do is whip in a great cross. And he put one in right at the death that Inzhagi probably should have put away. But it was United's night and it was Fletcher who was to have the final say on the night as he headed home Rafael's long cross to score his first champions league goal.
So a great night and a great win but before we get too carried away Milan were no great shakes. Becks did the anti Glazer protest no harm picking the green and gold scarf up at the end and putting it around his neck. Not a pleasant site for the two gimps that actually graced/shamed us with their presence for once.

A nice bit of anti Glazer PR from Becks
Paul Wilson wonders how injured Rooney really was for the Wolves match as he looked unstoppable last night putting Milano to the sword again. I've got to admit i think he was just rested for the Wolves match.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/mar/10/wayne-rooney-manchester-united-milan

Jim White joins in the eulogies for Rooney but notices that Becks is still unbeatable in the PR department.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/davidbeckham/7415558/Man-Utd-v-AC-Milan-David-Beckham-surrenders-old-kingdom-to-Wayne-Rooney.html

Fegie wouldn't mind Rooney equalling Ronaldo's 42 goal haul, but he is more than pleased with the 30 so far.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article7057742.ece

Rooney has joined the elite as he nears his peak writes James Lawton. I actually think he will get better still and become the undoubted number one player in the world. Reading the quotes from the Italians over these two legs he must have a great chance of winning either the European or/and world player of the year
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-world-games-summit-beckons-as-rooney-nears-peak-of-his-powers-1919549.html

Rob Kelly questions Ronaldo's decision to go to Ream Madrid as they crash out at the first knockout hurdle again. I thought they might struggle, i still think Barca are the biggest threat from the continent, injuries notwithstanding.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/robkelly/100005909/wayne-rooneys-development-highlights-cristiano-ronaldos-mistake-in-leaving-manchester-united-for-real-madrid/
I will laugh if they get rid of the coach Pelligrino, it would just prove, yet again, they don't know what they are doing.

Investment bank Nomura to advise red knights and MUST over Manchester United takeover.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7419698/Investment-bank-Nomura-to-advise-Red-Knights-on-Manchester-United-takeover.html

Jim White hits back at the sarcasm and cynicsm of some recent reporting of the anti Glazer campaign and the red knights in particular. As he says if they succeed it won't just be great news for United but for English football in general.
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/jim-white/article/17583/

Owen Hargreaves has been pulled from tonights reserve match derby. No reason given except to say he has not had a set back. Looking outside at the weather it's hard to think of any other reason for him not to be playing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/8551404.stm

Same old Tories writes Jonathan Freedland
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/09/smoothies-party-rich-tories-brand

New Labour and the law, politicians full stop i'm afraid don't mix. Simon Jenkins takes the government to task over it's behaviour during the recent Venables controversy.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/09/jack-straw-jon-venables-the-sun

We must forget the old orthodoxies such as putting the fight against inflation at the top of the economic to do list according to Anatole Kaletsky.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/anatole_kaletsky/article7057327.ece

Curtis Mayfield on the old grey whistle test with a superb piece of soul.