Andy Mitten on United's battle to keep the fans onside. I have renewed, i don't feel great about having done so as i respect and think the non renewers are doing the right thing. But it's a drug i'm afraid, and i always knew i was going to renew at the last minute. To be honest, i was nearer to jacking it in just after they had completed the takeover in 2005.
I still think that the gimps will sell, it seems to me both sides are waiting for the next set of quarterly results. The red knights have obviously got a price in mind that they think is realistic and that eventually the gimps will have to lower their valuation as their financial situation worsens. Is that wishful thinking on my part, i suppose we will see.
For all the great work that MUST and all the rest of the anti Glazer forces have put in, at the end of the day it will have been the credit crunch that will have forced them to sell. It's a sad indictment of the English game that it took the worst financial crisis since the wall street crash to force them out if i am right.
http://menmedia.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_united/s/1243148_andy_mitten_reds_face_battle_for_fans

Rooney calls for a winter break, he won't get one and rightly so. Better to get rid of international football.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/teams/england/7833414/World-Cup-2010-Wayne-Rooneys-plea-for-winter-break-likely-to-fall-on-deaf-ears.html

Yet again United open the season with a visit from a promoted side, this time Newcastle.
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/football/manchester_united/s/1245285_20102011_fixtures_manchester_united

It hasn't took Tosic long to vent his spleen at Ferguson and United. He's got a point, for whatever reason he was never really given a chance at United. It is hard to understand buying someone for £7 million and then never giving him a chance.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1287305/Manchester-United-reject-Zoran-Tosic-slams-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-securing-CSKA-Moscow.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

United youth continues his look at United's youngsters loaned out last season with a review of Ben Amos and his time in Norway.
http://manunitedyouth.wordpress.com/2010/06/15/a-look-at-the-loanees-ben-amos/#more-3332
I have to admit when i have seen him in the reserves he hasn't looke anywhere near first team level. Which would make his supposed elevation to third choice first team worrying in more ways than one.

We witenessed the performance of the tournament so far, not just my thoughts, Lawrenson's as well from ex red Diego Forlan who especially in the first times was playing South Africa on his own. I have got to say i have always liked him as a footballer, it's just a pity he was at United at the same time as Van Nistelroy who at the time was the best centre forward in the world. If Suarez is worth £ 30 million, what is Forlan worth because he is a far far superior footballer.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/south-africa-facing-early-exit-after-forlan-double-2002715.html

We were treated to the first big shock of the world cup as Switzerland beat many people's favourites Spain. They were my favourites, both from an aesthetic view and for being the team in form. It's hard to be as optimistic after that performance. It wasn't just that Switzerland managed to almost completely blunt their attacking prowess, but how susceptible they looked to the counter attack. I was expecting Spain to dominate the last 15 minutes as they sought an equaliser but Switzerland just as likely to get a second as the minutes raced away.
I wasn't as impressed with Brazil as some have been. They may have got better as the game went on, but i think we have to factor the opponents into the equation there. With no training facilities because they couldn't afford it, North Korea were never going to be able to live with them for 90 minutes. Brazil weren't much better than England in the first half. I will reserve judgement on the Brazilians until after they have played Chile.
All in all it's been a strange and mostly very dull start to the world cup. Once again i can't help comparing it to the champions league where in recent years we have started to get a reasonable amount of goals and generally when we don't we still get a match of high intensity. Maybe it's the away goals rule that makes such a difference or the fact the world cup is played at the end of a long hard season.

Larry Elliot reviews Osborne's proposed regualtion reform of the city.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jun/16/george-osborne-city-regulation-larry-elliott

Spain the new Greece writes Sean O'Grady
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/sean-ogrady-if-greece-was-northern-rock-spain-is-lehman-brothers-2002675.html

Craig Murray gets a piece printed in the Torygraph of all places. The great game returned to these countries with the fall of the iron curtain, but unlike Eastern Europe it hsn't been for the better.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/kyrgyzstan/7834619/Kyrgyzstan-Death-dictators-and-the-Soviet-legacy.html

Uzbeks use the genocide word to describe the violence.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/16/kyrgyzstan-killings-attempted-genocide-uzbeks

Adrian Hamilton bemoans Cameron's words and waffle over Afghanistan.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/adrian-hamilton/adrian-hamilton-words-and-waffle-over-afghanistan-2002392.html

Paul Steiger the antithesis of Rupert Murdoch
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/paul-steiger--setting-the-truth-free-2002548.html

Roy Hattersley reviews Alistair Campbell's diaries in the new statesman. As much as i haven't much time for Campbell it sounds like it is probably on the must read books of the Blair years.
http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2010/06/alastair-campbell-labour-blair

This sounds like a Machiavelian move as the Chinese sign multi billion contracts with the Greek government. Divide and rule, if the worst comes to the worst and the future becomes protectionist and trade wars are what we have to look forward to, Europe won't be in a very strong position if this is anything to go by.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jun/15/greece-china-contracts-signed

Pink Floyd with one of their best tracks