New contract for Berbs?

So much for my theory that Berbatov would be offered to other clubs in the summer when Welbeck returns from his successful loan spell at Sunderland. The MEN are reporting that the club will be offering him a bumper new deal. It has been his best season at the club, that is undeniable, he is a class act, i just hope we see him perform when it matters at the end of the season.

It looks like Macheda has been granted his wish and will return to Italy to play for Sampdoria for the rest of the season loan. I'm not sure what good there is in that for United, besides the Italian league being nowhere near the standard of the premier league, the styles of play are vastly different also. I still think he will probably end up back in his homeland permanently in time.

United's young goalie Ben Amos has gone to Oldham on loan for the rest of the season. A surprise has gone as low as division one, but if he is guarenteed games, then i suppose that is the main thing for Amos and United. He has showed promise when he has played for the first team this season, he has got something.

Fergie has explained why he recalled his three players from their loan spells at Preston after Darren Fergusons recent sacking. The rumour was that they all wanted to stay, that does sound more plausible to me, but who knows? He also reckons that Michael Owen will get plenty of big games during the remainder of the season, is that threat.

Roy Keane accepts that results have meant he has to acept that the sack was a possibility but felt that he was on the right lines at Portman road and says he enjoyed his time at Ipswich. I still dont know exactly what to make of Keane as a manager.

I don't know that many berties, fortunately, but since they won the lottery and started to splash the cash i have always wondered how they would cope with other clubs resentment. Here was one Arsenal fans take on the meaning of Wednesday nights game. If City do manage to break the habit of a lifetime and actually win a trophy or two how will they cope with having gloryhunting fans from Milton Keynes, etc.

I watched the 6 o'clock news earlier and saw the news that Blatter has come out and said that he expects the Qatari 2022 world cup to be held in the winter. Maybe i missed it but i did not hear any mention of the almost universal, i should think, opposition to these from the premier league, and almost every other major European league. As money talks loudest these days, i will be amazed if the 2022 world cup takes place in winter.

I thought England would retain the ashes but i thought the series would probably be decided by the odd test. As the series has now finished with a resounding 3-1 England triumph, the wonder is how did the Aussies manage to win one.
Geoff Boycott salutes England and picks out Cook and Anderson as the stand out players but thinks the real key to the overwhelming victory was the strenght of Englands squad and how well Tremlett and Bresnan did when they came in for Broad and Finn. He is right to say he has no idea who will support Anderson inthe pace bowling line up in England's next test. I find it hard to see how they can leave Tremlett out after his performances. James Lawton also applauds England's sense of unity during the series.
Vic Marks describes how swing and England's mastery of it was the key to the series.It seems that Anderson was universally seen as the bowler of the series, what a triumph of the man who many, me included, worried might be the weak link in the English bowling attack.

Fraser Nelson sees trouble ahead for the lib dems under Clegg.

Sean O'Grady predicts a troubled and unpopular year ahead for George Osborne
Joseph Stiglitz hopes the fashion for austerity economic solutions to the economic crisis is replaced by a more rational response and hopes we stop listening to the financial wizards who got us into this mess.

Black mountain - Wilderness heart:: A modern take on old fashioned heavy rock, the Canadians deliver another decent effort. Not earth shattering but well worth a listen.
Delphic - Acolyte: They started lasy year as one of the hot tips of the year but had faded out of sight by the end of the year. It was well received by the critics when released but made no end of year lists. It's obviously influenced by New Order, but it's no more derivative than many of the acts around at the moment that seem to look to the eighties as their main influence. I thought it was a reasonable effort
Laura Nyro - Eli and the thirteenth confession: I have to admit that i had never heard of this singer songwriter that started of in the sixties until i saw listed as an influence by an artist i can't remember in Mojo. The reason i listened to this was the list of artists she had allegedly influenced, Joni Mitchell amongst them. It is excellent though there a couple of fillers for me. I love the subtle jazz that creeeps into certain songs.
Stephanie Dosen - Alily for the spectre: Another US female singer songwriter, but from the present. I enjoyed this album, though didn't think it lived up to some of the praise i had seen her receive for it over the last few years.
Sufjan Stevens - Enjoy your rabbit: I didn't take to this at all on the first couple of listens, but it has really grown up on me. His albums are supposed to vary from one genre to another and i wasn't expecting as much elecrtonica as this album possess. Can't wait to hear more from his back catalogue and maybe first his new album.
Tangerine Dream - Electric meditation: The Debut album from 1970 by the legendary German electronica outfit. A very early take on krautrock that sounds almost psychedelic to my ears. A decent listen, but very experimental. This is the outstanding track, for me,
The Slits - Cut: I have never actually listened to this classic seventies female punk band. They were labelled as punk, though punk more in attitude than sound as there sound owes more to Jamaica than New York or London. Its a pretty good album
Van Morrison - Astral weeks: A sixties classic that i have never got around to listening to, even though i absolutely love Moondance, his follow up album. Another grower, i started off thinking it was good, but nowhere near the quality of Moondance, but now i'm not so sure, maybe it is as good.

Domonic Sandbrook looks at the story of the most controversial and bewildering figure in British history, Oliver Cromwell. I'm not sure if you look at his life as whole you could depict him as a hero, but you can admire him.

Vanity fair looks at the uneasy collaboration between Julian Assange and the Guardian during the recent Wikileaks episode.