Manchester United 5-0 Birmingham City

I'm not sure what i was expecting yesterday, but what i definitely wasn't expecting was the complete walkover that we witnessed. I suppose the very early goal helped, but the way Birmingham just fell apart in the second half does not bode well for their chances of staying up. I thought Blackburn were poor when we played them, but even though we score two less, yesterday's peformance from the away team was even worse.
Fergie made a couple of changes to the team that earned that respectable point at White hart lane last week. In came O'Shea for the suspended Rafael, Smalling replaced groin strain victim Ferdinand and Anderson took over the central midfield duties from Fletcher.
It didn't take long for O'Shea to leave his mark on the game as he rose seemigly unmarked at the front post to nodd Giggs corner goalbound before Berbatov did what all goalscorers do helping the ball over the line to make it 1-0. It was a soft goal from the visitors point of view, but it was the kind of start we had got against Blackburn, so expectations rose slightly.
I thought it was a weird first half performance, i didn't think United were that great, the possession in the middle of the park was good, but all to often the final ball and even more often the final cross weren't up to scratch. But Birmingham were in an obliging mood regularly giving the ball away and Berbatov went close again as United stole the ball in the middle of the park but his shot was just wide.
It was a pity seeing Carrick having to go off, especially with our lack of quality in midfield. I would have expected Scholes to have replaced him but the manager sent on Gibson. Maybe the way the game was going he suspected we may be in for a easy afternoon.
Birmingham lost the ball again carelessly on the half way line and Anderson fed Rooney who delivered the perfectly weighted ball for Berbatov who cut inside and gave Foster no chance to make it 2-0. The best move of the first half came on the stroke of half time as Berbatov stole the ball and played a one two with Rooney before Rooney crossed for Giggs to make no mistake with a sweetly timed left foot shot.
Rooney should have opened his account within minutes of the restart but inexplicably missed the target after Nani's superb piece of trickery and pinpoint cross gave him a header that looked easier to score than miss. After another so so first half from Nani the second half saw Nani start to show the kind of form we have been waiting to see as he ran at the visitors defence causing panic in their  rearguard, about time. But the fourth goal came via a long punt up field from Van Der Sar that Rooney controlled superbly before giving it to Giggs who found Berbatov in the middle and he poked it home to make it three hatricks for the season.
That saw Fergie take Giggs of, no doubt to save the Welshman's legs. Now Nani picked up the baton and it was just a matter of time before he scored with the amount of shots the away team were allowing him to get in. The wonder is that after the fifth goal United and Nani in paricular didn't add to the five. For a period of the second half we seemed to be creating a chance virtually every minute. But there were to be no more goals and five it stayed.
With the result from Villa park later on it turned it a pretty good day, now to turn those games in hand into three points with the rearranged match at Bloomfield road. Strong team please.

Ex red Andy Cole is glad to see Berbatov finally delivering the goods in a red shirt and belives he has finally got his head around being a Manchester United player. His partnership with Rooney is becoming as good as i can remember in a pair of front men at United. The first half especially the pair were on fire, it would be nice if Rooney could start to turn his good play outside the box into goals, but i'm sure it's just a matter of time.
Fergie now wants his other players to chip in with more goals as Berbatov aproaches twenty for the season. Nani is doing his bit, it's up to Rooney and the midfield to chip in with a few more.

It's good to see that Valencia's recovery seems to be on track as Fergie says he hopes to see him back in contention for a place in the squad by the end of February. That seems early to me, i just hope we get the same player back that was saw last season. After reading Alan Smith talk about not being the same player after his similar injury at Anfield you can never be quite sure.

Rooney had told the press on Friday how much he enjoyed playing with Berbatov and how healthy the squad now is for forwards. And with Welbeck to come back next season, things are looking promising going forward.

Giggs admits that he is looking forward to playing for another season, which is good news once again, because he is another one near to the top of his game at the moment. Giggs and Ferdinand were amongst the players on a new MUTV documentary exploring the cutting edge scientific methods employed at Carrington, i have to admit for once that sounds like a fascinating MUTV programme.

Van Nistelroy has told the Dutch press that he has made up with Fergie after admitting that he was in the wrong towards the end of his career at old trafford. What a player that guy was. As a goalscorer he is head and shoulders abover every other forward i have seen play for the club. If i was to pick  my best ever United team and it was a 4-4-2 he would undoubtedly be my centre forward.
It would be nice to see him back at the club at some stage in the future after he has finished his career.

David Conn explores the murky circumstances surrounding the summer transfer of Bebe to the club. He seems to have vanished back to the reserves at the moment, best place for him at the moment, i'm afraid.

Another day and yet another report linking United to a Qatari takeover.

Steve Richards claims that the resignation of Alan Johnson, however personally unfortunate, has allowed Ed Miliband to correct the mistake of appointing him shadow chancellor in the first place. I don't think anybody can argue with that. Whether or not Balls is the answer as his replacement, Johnson was in danger of destroying Labours reputation for economic competence. And seeing as though that is what they are in the process of doing, trying to re-establish what was a fairly horrific mistake.
Bennedict Brogan comes down on the side of those that argue that this was a disaster for Miliband and Labour as the tories get ready to welcome back the man who was the architect of the financial and economic architecture that fell apart when the global economic meltdown hit th.e country in 2008. Fellow Telegraph columnist but labour supporter Mary Riddell comes to the exact opposite conclusion arguing that his record for being the brightest economic mind on the labour benches will see him give Osborne and tories a torrid time. The way the economy is poised at the moment he could well be walking into a George Osborne own goal, which would probably negate his own record under Brown. Larry Elliott comes down on the same side as Riddell arguing that he will relentlessly and expertly take apart every decision that Osborne makes.
Sean O'Grady lists five questions for Balls as he takes over the shadow chancellor portfolio and ends by predicting that by this time next year he will have replaced Miliband as the leaser of the opposition.
Ed Hodges wonders whether Miliband and Balls will be able to bury the hatchet and workd together.

Mehdi Hasan writes that as guilty as Blair may be over the lead up to the Iraq war, anti war campaigners must not pin all the blame on him. No the vast majority of the labour party have to take the blame for that.

Vernon Bogdanor's New Statesmans piece argues that fear is the glue keeping the coalition together.

Bennedict Brogan blogs on Coulson's resignation and the question of David Cameron's judgement. If Thursday was a bad day for Miliband then Friday was as bad if not worse for the prime minister.
Michael White writes that Coulson's departure will not lessen Cameron's dependence on trying to understand and connecting with the world that red tops represent.
Peter Oborne doesn't really buy into that argument, he wasn't a fan of Coulson or the world he represented and had argued before that Cameron should have never appointed him. Anthony Seldon writes that geat leaders don't need spin doctors to tell them what to do, doubtless White would argue that that's an out of date argument, but i buy into it.

David Prosser thinks that if Hunt is looking for a way to deliver BSkyB into the hands of Murdoch without it being referred to a competition commission he is wasting his time. I think he was right but after Coulson's departure and the revelations we are told are still to come he must surely be right.
Henry Porter argues that News International must be reigned in, no arguments there. More and more people are coming round to the view that the police have got as much to answer for as the political establishment as this Indy piece looks at the cosy ( corrupt ? ) relationship between News International and the Met.

Top French actor Vincent Cassell is interviewed in the Guardian about his role in the new release Black sawn. He has been in some top films.

Paul Mason leaves the economics in his latest blog to talk PC strategy games and the history of Europe in the 1930's. The game sounds right up my street, though it does get mixed reviews on Amazon. Still it will have to be built at some point.

The Quietus takes us back to 1985 and the world of Mark E Smith and the Fall's This nation's saving grace.

The Fall