Manchester United Fans Club

Craig Gardner has revealed his desire to remain Aston Villa’s deadball expert as he set himself a 10-goal target ahead of the clash with Manchester United at Villa Park. Gardner has scored with free-kicks from the edge of the penalty area in Villa’s last two games with Tottenham and West Ham.

He faces competition from the likes of skipper Gareth Barry and Shaun Maloney for the role but is hopeful of being retained against the Red Devils as Villa seek a fifth successive home league win. Gardner, who is confident of shaking off a groin strain to face United, told PA Sport: “It was nice to get on the scoresheet twice in five days, but I want to get around the 10 goal mark for the season.

“Overall, that’s two in eight league games now for me this season so it can be done. I’ve scored with basically the same free-kick both times, driven hard and low, but I am sure I will score other sorts of goals as well, maybe bend one into the top corner!

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Veteran winger Ryan Giggs has signed contract extension at Old Trafford and is hopeful his latest Manchester United contract will not be his last.

Only three weeks after Giggs confirmed tentative talks had begun over an extension to his present deal, which was due to expire in the summer, negotiations have reached a successful conclusion.

The long-serving winger’s new deal will keep him at Old Trafford until 2009, extending his first-team career with the Red Devils to an incredible 18 years. (more…)

Nemanja Vidic will be celebrating his 26th birthday this Sunday and United’s boss is hoping to make the birthday boy is fit to face Aston Villa, while Edwin van der Sar has confirmed he could play.

Vidic, 26 on Sunday, was withdrawn from the Wigan game a fortnight ago after just 21 minutes, and he has since missed Serbia’s Euro 2008 qualifiers against Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, the big defender could now return to action in United’s trip to the Midlands.

“We don’t have many changes from Wigan. I’m hoping that Vida will be ready,” said the boss at his pre-match press conference. Van der Sar limped off with a toe injury against Birmingham City, but he is also expected to return at Villa Park. (more…)

Manchester United will meet table-toppers Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on November 3rd. Some pundits have already suggested Arsenal are too raw and inexperienced to last the pace this season, feeling United, Liverpool and Chelsea will eventually emerge as the major championship contenders.

Ferguson disputes that theory. He only has to look back 12 months to find similar opinions being expressed about his own side, who went on to win the title in such glorious fashion. It is still an open race but Arsenal have had a great start and they are the ones we are chasing at the moment,’ said Ferguson.

‘I know challenging for a title is a new experience for a lot of their players but some of them have been there before and the manager has, which is a help. People said the same thing about us last year but we led the league for three-quarters of the season, so I don’t think it is a handicap.

‘The main thing is I know we will chase them with great fervour and determination. Our team is coming together now. We are getting on with the business of winning games and hopefully we can continue to do that now.’

Sir Alex Ferguson is backing his fallen stars to recover from their International disappointments by firing Manchester United to victory at Aston Villa on Saturday. John O’Shea and Darren Fletcher were both left frustrated by poor results for the Republic of Ireland and Scotland respectively but it is England duo Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand who suffered the most.

Both are facing the dismal prospect of an unexpected summer off as England struggle to reach Euro 2008, a scenario that would almost certainly see the dismissal of Ferguson’s former assistant Steve McClaren after just 18 games in charge.

However, Sir Alex has felt no need to throw a protective arm around his charges. After seeing so many players experience the same emotions during his two decades at Old Trafford, Ferguson is happy to let the nature of the game take care of the problem. (more…)