Manchester United 1-0 Sunderland

So Ferguson's 25th year at the club was celebrated with a whimper of a game not a bang. Another disappointing game that makes August and September seem a distant memory. The spark has completely gone out of the team at the moment, it doesn't seem to matter who plays or where they play.
Rooney started in midfield again this time with Fletcher for company, Lindegaard made an appearance in goals and Ferdinand partnered Vidic for the first time since the opening day of the season.
The first half was as bad if not worse than Wednesday's second half snorefest. The goal that came out of nowhere in the last minute of the half wasn't really deserved. Not that Sunderland had done much to entertain us in that opening 45 minutes either.
On the positive side Rooney once again looked the part in midfield. Is that at the expense of him contributing further up the field? To be honest at the moment, with the lack of creativity in the side, he is probably better of in the middle of the park. At least he is able to contribute positively to the cause instead of getting frustrated at the lack of service. Hernandez once again didn't really do much in the match, but i can't criticise too much, when once again you take into the picture the lack of service.
The second half saw United raise their game above the mundane, they started to look capable of rising to the occasion and and it looked possible we might see the glorious football of the opening weeks of the season. Chances were still few and far apart, the best an Hernandez header blocked on the line and a brilliant double save from the Mackems goalie Westwood. But it was a false dawn and the longer the game went on the more Sunderland came into it.
I couldn't believe that we ended the game hanging on against such an average side, but that is how the game finished. The one hope to cling too, is that we are manging to colect three points, when given the performances we could easily be dropping points to let City slip out of sight.

The papers have been full of columns and pieces celebrating Ferguson's 25 years at the club. Paul Hayward argues that the last ten years adapting to the way the game has changed prove why Fergie is without equal as the finest manager the game has seen in this country. Matt Lawton talks to the four men involved in the appointment of Alex Ferguson as the new mager of Manchester United in November 1986 and their memries of those few days.
Daniel Taylor looks Fergie's time at United and thinks that he will never really leave United behind. Which will be tricky for his successor as Taylor looks back to the mess that was made when Busby stepped down. That new book from O'Farrell will be worth reading, even if it probably won't be particularly edifying.
Jim White looks at Fergie's longevity and also looks at the contemporaries of the Scot when he took over United in 1986. There are some blasts from the past in that piece, somehow mentioning the managers, makes it seem even longer ago than it does when you mention the team and players he inherited. He also looks at the adaptibility of the man as he has risen to challenge after challenge, to keep United the team to beat. It's too early to say for sure, but the oil money pouring into that lot across town may be the biggest challenge yet.
As Henry Winter says whenever he does jack it in he is in the process of building another great team that will be a far healthier inheritance for his successor than Ron Atkinson left him when he took over United. When you think of the mess he was left with by Atkinson it was no wonder it took him until 1990 to deliver us the first piece of silverware since 1985.
Though i can never forget how the club disintegrated after the dynamic start we made to the 85-86 season and the magnificent football we played during the ten consecutive victories to the season and the eighteen match unbeaten run that came to an end at Hillsbrough. I went to most of those games, home and away, and it was unbelievable we managed to end the season in fourth spot after such a great start. If it was true that Atkinson offered to resign at the end of that season, i can't believe the board didn't accept it.
Ian Herbert of the Independent looks at how Fergie's relationship with the media has evolved, from slanging matches to bunches of flowers. James Lawton recalls the time his frosty relationship with Fergie finally thawed and joins the list that have selected their team of the Fergie's 25 year reign.

He can't help getting himself in the news, some achievement given the amount of minutes he has actually played for the first team so far, i hope Ravel Morrison is going to be worth all the shit we will probably get with him if he does fulfill his promise.

George Osborne isn't getting a good press at the moment, it must be worrying for his career when Fraser Nelson starts to criticise his shortcomings. Even if he comes at it from the side of the inflation nutter angle. David Blanchflower wonders where Osborne's allies in the business community have gone or indeed any of his allies at all.
I suppose if there is a consolation for him it's that Ed Balls doesn't seem to be convincing his critics either as his closeness to the City doesn't go unremembered on the left. Saying that, i happen to think the Robin Hood tax is a bit of a sideshow myself, compared to reform of the city and re-regulating finance rebalancing the economy.

Richard Murphy fears for the future after the week's shambolic G20 and Greek Eurozone contortions, he fears we are on the road to repeating the mistakes of 1919 instead of learning from the west's, or should that be the US reaction to the victory in 1945. The irony being of course that Germany paid the price of 1919 and reaped the benefits from the Marshall plan. Daniel Knowles implores the Germans to learn the lessons of history and forgive Greece. Of course they would also be saving themselves, it's not entirely altruistic.
Paul Mason looks back on the week and looks at the options for Europe to resolve the Eurozone crisis and points out that there are no easy options. Larry Elliott points out that European leaders fear the worst after losing control and fear the upcoming crisis could put the 2008-09 crunch in the shade.
William Keegan traces the roots of the current economic crisis to the fall of the Berlin wall and the politics and economics that the west have followed since. Matthew d'Ancona asserts that the Euro elite are out of touch with 21st century modern world and claims the Euro was a goal of the European left.