Owen Hargreaves last comeback?

It looks like it pays to be sceptical if this report has any semblence of truth about it and i can't help thinking it's a more realistic assessment of where Owen Hargreaves career is at than some of the more optimistic updates which we keep getting are. All the known facts scream out that he will never play a serious role in football ever again. How many footballers or indeed how many sportsmen have come back from serious knee injury that has kept them out of their sport for more than two years.

As predicted the last thing on Ferdinand's mind is retiring from international football with England to prolong his career at club level as he rubbishes Hansen's advise to do just that. Well we better hope that Smalling is a fast learner, because Hansen was right.

Park admits he hasn't been playing well but vows to do better, the Mail rehash an old story. I might be wrong but i read somewhere he has picked up an injury and won't be playing against Japan for South Korea.

Solskjaer shows the kind of ambition and realism that makes United fans love him as he admits his ambition would be to manage United. But knows that he has a lot work to do and a lot to learn before he can get there.
Another Scandanavian great wishes he had given his United stay longer. Henrik Larsson enjoyed his stay at Old trafford and his one regret from his career is going back to Sweden when Fergie wanted him to stay at United.

Andersred blog man Andy Green talks to Beyond the pitch about last Friday's financial results.

With the numerous cock ups and poor crowds in India before and during the commonwealth games come more embarrassin news for sport in India. Shane Warne's Rajasthan royals and the kings x1 Punjab have had thei IPL licenses terminated as the civil war in Indian cricketblows wide open.


Timothy Garton Ash looks at the state of US politics and isn't impressed. Angry, polarised and gridlocked, it resembles Brehznev's Soveit Union when it needs to be more like Silicon valley. But he thinks that the country is starting to wake up to the Chinese threat. He asks what is it that your makes sink when you look at Washington, the answer must surely be money, and the way money talks in the US political system over the short term at the expense of the long term interest of both the people and the country.
Paul Mason talks to possible US presidential candidate for the republican 2012 contest Mitch Daniels about what direction the US needs to take to meet the challenges facing the country. I'm not exactly sure where he is cominf from after reading that, and if i'm not sure that must make him suspect to the rising influence of the tea party.
Gary Younge takes a look at the rise of the tea party and his conclusion is to wonder why the Democrats can't take this opportunity to shift the economy onto a more worker friendly path. He aslo wonders why US workers always seem to take political positions at odds with their own wellbeing.
Dana Milbank of the Washington post has taken a look at one of the tea party's leading lights Glenn Beck and detects a certain amount of hypocrisy, surprise, surprise.
California will go to the pools next month to decide whether to legalise canabis, well it would solve some of their budgetary problems. Bernd Debusmann finds that opponents aren't just based the usual suspects who still have faith on the war against and drugs but also the state's cannabis growers who fear losing money. Surely yet another good reason to legalise it.

Frank Furedi argues that new Labour is dead, but those who argue the party has moved back to the left under Ed Miliband have also got it wrong. As many others have argued many in the party are wary of where the party is heading. I would think that is because just as at the end of Thatcher's reign the tory party had come to almost totally embody her views just when the country had had its fill of her and them the every same thing has happened to the labour party. Hence why David Miliband would have won but for the unions and new labour miscalculation and complasceny. Mary Riddell hopes that Miliband was right in his choice of Johnson for the sake of the country.
I don't buy into Furedi's argument at all, if the tories really are determined to ruthlessly impose the cuts they are threatning to and we do enter a double dip or even worse an L shaped recession, there is every reason to believe we could see a labour or even a labour-lib dem coalition after the next election. There is all to play for as the fall out from the Browne report shows.
Iain Martin seems to side with those pundits that think Ed Miliband may have pulled of a bit of a masterstroke in appointinting Alan Johnson to oppose George Osborne at the despatch box.

Mark Gatiss whose A history of horror started last night is interviewed in the Guardian. What would the BBC do without him, he seems to have had the most success of all since the league of gentlemen hung up its boots for the time being.

Smalling admires Rio

Chris Smalling is enjoying playing with Rio and admits he couldn't wish for a better pair of central defenders than Rio and Vidic to learn the ropes from. Let's hope he is a good learner, i like the way he talks about learning positional sense from Ferdinand, that is what we want to see.
Alan Hansen uses his Telegraph column to tell Ferdinand if he wants to prolong his career, it's time to end his international career. I can't see that happening, i have always thought he was another Becks who puts England above United.

Ferguson puts Berbatov's outstanding form to down renewed self belief and confidence. He also let on that he thinks Scholes, Giggs and maybe Van Der Sar may still have one more season in them. 
Valencia has been a big loss Ferguson admits, he settled in really quickly as the club didn't expect him to show the quality he has for at least two seasons. At least with Nani in good form the loss has been negated to a certain extent. I don't deny Nani has done reasonably well but we have missed Valencia badly with a lack of real quality on the other flank especially after Giggs got injured.

The MEN seems to have been to sampling something that's probably illegal as they suggest United and City will go head to head for the signature of Fernando Torres. Where do you start taking apart such a crock of shit.

A Sunday Times interview with 60's United man John Fitzpatrick.

I wouldn't generally put anything from Sky on here but this was interesting. Custis pretty much sums the Glazer's up.

Rooney joins the chorus of figures in the football world calling for a winter break in the premier league.
Richie De Laet seems to be impressing in his loan stint at Bramhall lane.

It seems as if the IMF have joined the ranks of Keynsian liberal left social democrats as they warn the global downturn risks generating a lost generation that could threaten democracy itself.
Jeremy Warner thinks the IMF was complascent to think it had won the battle to stop the global economy sinking into 30's style slump. There is still a whole long way to go and even more critical problems to solve.
William Keegan talks of the lessons of history which the coalition seem to be as ignorant of as their new labour predecessors.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabo that Chinese progress will lead to democracy and freedom, though he did say there was disagreement about the topic within the party. It would be nice to think that it would, but is there any great demand for it at the moment within the country itself.
If we are entering a preiod of currency wars Reuters correspondent James Salt thinks the Chinese are running rings around the competition.

The tories are still in anguish over last weeks child benefit cuts, as two different Torygraph writers come to two very different conclusions with Janet Daley complaining of the middle class being under attack and Matthew D'ancona, correctly in my view,  calling them a just another group of vested interests who thought they would be "looked after".

Henry Porter describes the unholy alliance that is now grouping together to try to stop Murdoch's attempt to acquire complete control of BSkyB. 

Johann Hari reports on the dark side of Dubai as the hard times arrive after the losses incurred during the credit crunch. I had just read about Dubai and Abu Dhabi in John Kampfner's excellent book, How we made money and lost our freedom so not much of that came as a surprise. The worst aspect of the article for me was the expats behaving like the worst kind of colonolialist scum.


Restrepo opens in this country this week and looks well worth a watch. I watched the dispatches episode last week that followed Bravo's deadly mission, it was a pretty good summing up for the reasons for not being there. The best line was right at the end when one of the US private's said " they're not like Americans that's for sure" and described the mission as a mindfuck. The best reposte to the neocon mission i could think off.
As to whether this could be the best war documentary ever, i always think looking back at things from a distance leads to a better perspective on events. But i haven't seen it yet, so we shall see.

Tmothy Garton Ash asks us to try the real Facebook test: restoring your privacy.

The incredible Glazer profit loss

United reveal record profits and yet post a massive loss of £83 million. That to me, is pre credit crunch, voodoo economics time.

David Conn charts the decline of two English football giants at the hands of leveraged buyouts. To me leveraged buyouts are just totally immoral full stop, anybody with half a brain knows that they just allow the buyer to assett strip the institution that has been bought. But for the Premier league to allow it to happen to the two clubs that are undoubtedly world famous is a stunning indictment of that body. Would that have been allowed to happen in Spain to Barca or Real or in Italy to the two Milan's or Juventus and it certainly couldn't have happened in Germany to FC Hollywood Bayern.

Andersred's first thoughts are of the best run club in the country if not the world that is completely wasted in having to pay of that debt. And the worry, which is surely the point the task of trying to compete at the top end of the market whilst constrained in its transfer dealing. David Bond of the BBC writes that he thinks these results means a takeover is a long way off, though he does say that thses results show why the red knights wouldn't pay the £1.5 billion the Glazer's supposedly wanted for United, the club simply isn't worth anywhere near that.

Paul Kelso thinks the Glazer's know what they are doing, they have had luck in the timing of the takeover but he thinks they showed judgement in the gamble of the bond issue. But he admits to the reality that United are simply paying the price of having them as owners. I would say their are a million and one more issues than us just having the privilegde of paying for them as owners. Unless he means when they sell the club, they will walk away with a profit. As events down the east lancs show that depends on what happens on the pitch. As the bond prospectus admitted what would happen if Fergie left or heaven forbid dropped dead tomorrow?

Don't panic, says corporal Gill, the long term structure is sound, yes of course it Jonesy, er Gill.

England under 21's with three United lads in the starting team won again, this time against Romania with Chris Smalling scoring a late winner and all three reds apparently having good games. I didn't see it, sad to say, i like watching the three of them play as they are all going to be a big part of United's future.
Van Der Sar rubbishes recent retirement talk, i must admit i was surprised by the midweek retirement news as from the comments i had read from him in pre-season and over the first couple of months of the season it sounded like he would make a decision at Christmas as usual.

It looks like Wes Brown is in the naughty corner after a pre season row with Fergie. I can't see him letting him go yet, we aren't that well off at the back, though he is pretty obviously nowhere near the player he was.

Differing views on Ed Milibands appointment of Alan Johnson as shadow chancellor. I must admit even though he is supposedly on the more progressive side of the Labour party he has never overly impressed me and i have never understood how the common touch epithet is attached to him. Not that peeople will be bothered about any common touch in a shadow chancellor, what they will want is someone who sounds like he is totally on top of his brief and will be proved right in his judgement. I'm with those who think this could turn out to be a major mistake. 
The Torygraph thinks it is a cunning move by Miliband even if numbers aren't his strong point. George Eaton of the new statesman agrees with that assessment asn says it shows Labour's future economic policy will be closer to Darling's vision than Ed Balls.

The Independent asks if Manchester is the greatest university in this country. As far as discoveries that could and should have been used to have helped our manufacturing and hence export industrie, the answer must be yes. Of course because of the bias in this country towards the city of London and finance we have always missed the boat in exploiting these discoveries.

Manchester airport shares out £100 million dividend, keeping £80 million whilst sharing out £20 million amaongst Greater Manchster councils. I would like to think there would be uproar if that were ever sold off. An example to the rest of the country how a region or city can take a stake in it's own future without always relying on central government.

Ian Macshane of talks about his career as the interviewer charts the upswing in his career since his brilliant portrayal of Al Swearengen in the outstanding Deadwood. I'd love to hear what he really thinks of the Glazer's, if he hates the Murdoch empire as much as is made out in the opening part of the interview.