Manchester United Fans Club

Prior to Bolton match, Sir Alex acknowledge that he tried to sign Nicolas Anelka on several occasion before. And, Anelka replied with what is missing for United without him in the line-up by scoring the only goal of the game courtesy a mistake from Gerard Pique.

To put salt into wound, Sir Alex Ferguson was sent to the stand by referee Mark Clattenburg for a half-time tunnel rant at a succession of minor decisions that had gone against his team. And Fergie mood could not have been improved by the sight of his side losing at Bolton for the first time since December 1978, nor for the fact that his side survived the entire Sam Allardyce era without losing at Bolton.

Ferguson was overwhelming confident about his side capability and felt sufficiently confident about registering another victory against Bolton - a side that battling to get out of regelation trouble that he gave Cristiano Ronaldo the weekend off.

Ronaldo, the only squad members to play two Euro 2008 qualifiers over the past week was missed in a disjoined opening period. However, the real problem was the absence of Vidic with a back injury. Pique was selected to partner Rio Ferdinand at the central of defense, leaving the impressive yet more experience Wes Brown to continue his right-back role in the absence Gary Neville who has been missing for much of the season. (more…)

Manchester United travel to the Reebok Stadium to play against Bolton later today. The Red Devils could miss the man Ryan Giggs calls their “extra dimension” in Carlos Tevez.

Tevez is facing a race against time to return from South America where he has been involved in two gruelling World Cup qualifiers with Argentina. Tevez admits he is exhausted after the double-header against Bolivia and Colombia despite being sent off after just 24 minutes of the latter clash.

With Rooney still sidelined, the absence of Tevez would leave Ferguson with just one fit striker in Louis Saha for the clash with Gary Megson’s men. Rooney is expected to back sooner than predicted, he will probably be involve in Fulham visit to Old Trafford on 3rd December. (more…)

Following international schedules, all players return to club football duty. Here we take a look of all the players.

Nemanja Vidic is a doubt for today’s trip to Bolton, Vidic suffered a back injury while on duty with Serbia.  Sir Alex Ferguson will wait until Saturday before making a decision on his inclusion.

Carlos Tevez sent off during his Argentina match in the 24th minute, will start at the Reebok Stadium, despite media reports that he would be rested due to tiredness. Sir Alex said he didn’t know where the story came from that he is tired. “I asked him about it and he didn’t know anything about it. I suggested to him that maybe he should be on the bench against Bolton. He just gave me a look.”

Meanwhile,  Wayne Rooney could return for United as soon as Monday week when Fulham visit Old Trafford. He’s doing some running on Thursday and Friday and should be in contention for the Monday night game on 3 December.

Republic of Ireland international John O’Shea has signed a three-year contract extension at Manchester United following recently confirmed he was in advanced talks over a new deal which could see him remain at his probably only professional club.

Old Trafford officials have now confirmed the 26-year old will remain at United until 2012.

‘John has developed in his years here and is now regarded as one of the more experienced players,’ said United boss sir Alex Ferguson.

‘He has proved through his personality and professionalism he is an outstanding credit to the club and I am delighted he has signed a new contract.’

Club footballs resume this weekend following last week International schedules. England failed to qualify for EURO 2008. It’s a shamed that with the players they have, they can’t even managed to get a draw.

The whole England saga was really a shamed story starting from the first when former United’s second man Steve McClaren was appointed as Sven successor.  McClaren may be a good coach but it’s obvious that he was lacking experience as well. Middlesbrough was his only club management club in his cv.

Hopefully, the England FA will dig-out their root cause and appoint a right candidate for the top job and shall focus for the next event - the World Cup 2010 with new group of players given the current “golden-generation” will probably near the last path of their career.

Sir Alex will have final say over whether Vidic will plays for Man Utd or Serbia next weekend.

Ferguson is not due back at Carrington until Thursday but the United boss has been alerted to Vidic’s possible participation in his country’s twice-postponed Euro 2008 qualifier with Kazakhstan.

UEFA have confirmed that, although the game is a competitive one, as it now falls outside a FIFA allocated `international window’ - thanks to the heavy snowfalls that have hit Belgrade - Serbia have no automatic right to the keep the defender after Wednesday’s clash with Poland.

It means that Ferguson must decide whether to release Vidic, who should be involved in Saturday’s Barclays Premier League encounter with Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. The dilemma is made more tricky at the moment because Serbia still have an outside chance of qualifying.

However, that remote hope will be extinguished if Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal pick up a point from their home game with Finland, a result that will almost certainly see Vidic head back to Manchester to resume club duties.

With parts of Old Trafford populated by people who could testify to the ferocity of Sir Alex Ferguson’s hairdryer treatment, it was indicative of the importance of more modern management methods that Blackburn were beaten by a player he had sweet-talked.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s brace was the latest evidence of his brilliance but Brian McClair, alongside Ferguson in the home dug-out, Mark Hughes, in the opposing technical area, and Alex McLeish, in the directors’ box, have all experienced the United manager’s temper.
Yet while Ferguson’s fury has become famous, his expertise in diplomacy has proved invaluable, not least in persuading his disturbed maverick talents not to take their leave. A conversation with Eric Cantona in 1995 had a profound effect on United and, by extension, the rest of the Premier League. A chat with a disgruntled Cristiano Ronaldo after he had morphed into a tabloid hate figure during the 2006 World Cup, may yet prove still more significant.
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Cristiano Ronaldo pole-axed 10-man Blackburn as Manchester United made light of Wayne Rooney’s absence and surged to the Barclays Premier League summit with a 2-0 win.

Red Devils old-boy Mark Hughes, a candidate to replace Sir Alex Ferguson one day, could have been proud of Rovers’ battling efforts for all but two minutes of the contest, even after the dismissal of David Dunn.

But it was in those 120 seconds that Ronaldo destroyed them, powering home Ryan Giggs’ corner before finishing off Carlos Tevez’s magnificent square pass.

Although Ronaldo failed to complete his first United hat-trick, the double strike took him to 10 for the season and provided his team with their ninth win in 10 matches.
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Wayne Rooney will be sidelined for at least four weeks after suffering an ankle injury in training on Friday.

Rooney left United’s training ground on crutches and the injury means he will miss England’s final Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia on November 21 and the friendly in Austria six days previously.

He is likely to miss four Premier League matches, starting with Sunday’s clash against Blackburn, as well as United’s last two Champions League ties. (more…)

Nemanja Vidic has signed a two-year contract extension that will keep him at Manchester United until 2012.

The Serbia defender, who signed on Christmas Day 2005 from Spartak Moscow in a £7million deal, had a difficult start to his Old Trafford career but has gone on to be one of the most influential players at the club.

A major factor in last season’s title success, Vidic has the happy knack of finding the net for his club, scoring the winner at Everton earlier this season, one of five goals in his 69 appearances. The 26-year-old is so highly rated bySir Alex Ferguson, he even assumed the captain’s armband following the substitution of Edwin van der Sar during United’s 4-0 Champions League win over Dynamo Kiev at Old Trafford.

And while Spanish youngster Gerard Pique is developing into a first-team prospect for the future, Ferguson has been quick to extend Vidic’s stay at the club, which was due to end in 2010. ‘Nemanja has made a terrific impact at the club and has forged a partnership with Rio Ferdinand that was a major part in us winning the title last year,’ said Ferguson.

‘He is an extremely popular member of the squad, both with staff and fans alike. ‘It’s great news that he wants to be part of this exciting side for years to come. ‘ Now fully recovered from the knee injury that forced him to miss the World Cup last year, Vidic had no hesitation in signing the new deal.

‘Playing in this team is a great privilege,’ he said. ‘This is such a great club and I am delighted to be able to extend my stay here. ‘The fans and everyone at the club have been very special to me. I hope I can do my bit to bring the club even more trophies in the years ahead.’