Ferdinand to return?

Ferdinand has been to Germany for treatment on his injured calf and if he responds well he could be back in a red shirt sooner than thought. Which is obviously good news, with our defensive problems he can't back soon enough.
Ex United youth Craig Cathcart sticks up for his ex team mate and Northern Ireland colleague Jonny Evans over the Stuart Holden challenge that saw him receive a red card and holden miss a semi final and the next six months of football. I always thought Cathcart would make it at United, good to see him fulfilling some of his potential at Blackpool. I'm sure if the worst happens and the seasiders are relegated he will find plenty of premier league suitors.

The FA have brokered peace talks between Fergie and the BBC reports the Mail. As neither side will back down, in the BBC's case correctly, i can't see much coming from them. I don't expect Fergie to talk to the BBC until after he has retired, if that. Patrick Collins argues that the FA  wouldn't have done this for any other manager and shouldn't really be doing so with Ferguson.

James Robson with some fantasy football reporting has United going on a spending spree of Cityesque proportions. The fact he can name all those targets and not mention one of the hot young prospects coming up through the youth system tells you all you need to know about his credibility on United and Fergie's future plans. We may buy Young at a knock down price, a goalie and one of Rodwell or Henderson, but i can see no further than that, unless he really does start to cut adrift some of the deadwood in the squad in the summer.
Fergie tells the press that all our on loan players will come back next season to join up with the first team squad. I have to admit i had forgotten about Diouf, whom when i have seen him has done well.

United have set up a deal with Dutch club FC Twente to act as a holding club for five promising Brazillian youngsters. I don't really like this, there should be some kind of way of stopping the big clubs indulging in this sort of thing, but what, i have no idea. City will be bound to follow suit.

The Glazers show they haven't lost their cuddly side as they decide to sue one of their own clubs fans for posting names and addresses of its corporate clients on the internet. Amazingly their chances of winning any kind of meaningful victory would appear to be small, little consolation to the man who did the worthy deed.

Robbo feels lucky after successful operation to cure the recently diagnosed throat cancer, great news for captain marvel and those of us that had the good fortune to see one of the greatest players to ever put on a Manchester United side.

The Guardian's football man in Manchester Daniel Taylor gives an interesting interview about his job and time as the football correspondent for the city and his thoughts on the club and especially Fergie. I loved the Fergie quip about him being the bass player for Oasis and the United staffer who was quoted saying of Bebe " it's like watching competition winner".

Paul Wilson on the global spread of rugby league, it's a great game that deserves to be a far more successful sport than rugby union. I can't help being cynical about any future expansion though, i'm afraid.

Ahead of the budget Faisal Islam looked at the implications for the rumoured proposals for merging national insurance and income tax. I can see why small star tories would love to merge the two taxes in an effort to stop any future Brown type tax rises by stealth. But if the economy does go down the sink and Osborne's plans to bring down the debt in the lifetime of the parliament with it he will be looking for stealth taxes of his own.

Post budget Larry Elliott welcomes us to planet Osborne, where his modest plans to turn the UK into a rival version of Germany run into the ever so slight problem that his current policies risks plunging the economy into a spiral of low growth and inflationary problems.
Martin Wolf writes in the FT that Osborne made the best of a bad hand, which of course is partly his own fault. He salutes some of the budgets measures for helping business, but like Elliott he is sceptical they will do much good against the current economic background.
Will Hutton was singularly unimpressed by the so called growth plan announced in the budget and argues the return of Martin Sorrel and his conglomerate WWP sends out all the wrong signals. 
Unsurprisingly David Blanchflower argues that the budget will be a failure and predicts that OBR predictions of future growth, whilst lowered, are still too optimistic. William Keegan thinks Osborne has boxed himself in, though he agrees with Elliott that at least manufacturing is being taken seriously again.
Mary Ann Sieghart believes the Lib dems can't have been happy with last weeks budget and wonders if the governments actions which could very well cause a structural cyclical deficit which will leave todays unemployed still unemployable in five years time are quite the legacy Osborne and the coalition government had in mind.
Craig Murray a liberal who sees the merits in a smaller state thinks of Osborne "as a petty man for a great task".
Philip Stephens concurs with the consensus that the real action happened during the last budget and that the chancellor is locked on autopilot to plan A. As Larry Elliott wrote in his budget analysis he will need a plan B. Robert Skidelsky and Felix Martin chart a possible plan B with proposals for a way out of Britain's grwoth dilemma.


A fascinating blog that looks at the thesis that big government has served the interests of capitalism rather more than free market, small state ideologues would ever let on. Jon Snow blogs after having watched the oscar winning documentary inside job which sounds well worth watching.
David Prosser writes of an industry even less trusted than the bankers as OFGEM accuses the six leading utility providersof rigging the market. Another 80's tory success story, i'm convinced that they will be renationalised again one day, especially when oil starts to run out. Speaking of which George Monibot writes why the events at Fukushima have made him stop worrying and come to love nuclear power, as he argues that atomic power has to be part of a future mix of resources used to replace fossil fuel energy.


Robert Fisk with one of his latest pieces on the Arabian democratic uprising, written before Syria became the latest country to kick off, now that country could make Libya look like a tea party.

Simon Reid-Henry argues that Obama is right to restart to court some of his troublesome neighbours to the south. Whilst the Economist's correspondent writes that Brazillians like Obama, but would like him even more if policy changes were to be announced on the trip.

The Economist's Blighty column wonders why politicians have such an obsession with choice in the NHS. As he states most people just want a good local hospital, as i would argue most people just want a good school as well.







Music
Aretha Franklin - I've never loved a man the way i love you: I have heard most of her classic tunes but have never listened to one of her classic 60's albums before. It is excellent, with a mixture of covers and Franklin originals and the band as usual with 60's soul is excellent.

Beach house -  Teen dream: I had never heard this US indie duo before, which was my loss because this is a pretty good album. The songs have just a hint of 80's electronic pop added to the left field indie of today, and it works well.
Darkstar - North: Dubstep outfit morph into a more progressive/regressive sound. Once again hints of 80's electronica but moody and dark, but with the dubstep influence hasn't been totally lost.

Deerhunter - Halcyon digest: I hadn't heard this US indie outfit either, another mistake as this is even better than Beach house, in fact this really is the digs proverbials. Not as progressive as Animal collective but this is almost as good as Merriweather post pavillion.

 Laura Marling - I speak because i can: Another artist that has been around for a couple of years that i have only just got around to listening to, this time UK singer songwriter Laura Marling. I have been missing out again because this is another excellent album.

Radiohead - The king of limbs: I finally got around to listening to the surprise new album from one of the best bands in the world, and it doesn't let you down. It's not as good as In dreams, but that was a woefully under rated album. I'm not sure the songs will work as well live, as that albums, but they are brilliant live so they will probably fit right in.