Man "U" versus CSKA

TheTamshee: watched the Red Devils weave their magic passes and come from behind on two occasions to seal their place in the last 16 of the champions league. Sir Alex can breathe easy after a tense game which saw CSKA give it there all, to hold on for a famous draw.

Man "U" versus Arsenal

TheTamshee says: the red devils pass there first big test of the new season with a Rooney penalty and a Abou Diaby own goal. Magic Giggs,y takes a free kick from the right side and incredibly the Arsenal man nods the ball into his own net. United 1-0 down at half time to a Arshavin strike, turned things around in the second half with a all out attacking game. Final score 2-1 to Sir Alex's never say die battlers. Click the title link for full match report curtosity of Giles Mole, scribing for the Telegraph.

Eto to join Man"U"

Living on a prayer: Samuel Eto'o is hopeful of a move to Manchester United as he is keen to feature in the Champions League again next season Photo: GETTY IMAGES
The Barcelona striker's agent, Josep Maria Mesalles, is optimistic that the English champions will make a formal bid of £18 million for the Cameroon striker tomorrow. TheTamshee says: Eto is a class act, this was evident when the player scored the opening goal against United in Barcelona's 2-0 Champions League final victory in May.

Man"U"

Michael Owen models the new Manchester United shirt after his move to the Premier League champions Photo: GETTY IMAGES
TheTamshee: is looking forward to M-O taking center stage at Old Trafford, he has had various injury problems over the last few seasons but i am confident that we will make an impact. His goal scoring record is impressive for clubs played and off coarse England. When the season starts we will surely get a rowdy welcome at Anfield when he comes onto the pitch as a supersub and scores the winning goal for the auld enemy.

Eric Cantona

TheTamshee says: with Sir Alex's Man "U" on the verge of the third title on the trot. Eric Cantona, a former star of the red devils with the touch of a magician has hit the big time in the film industry, Click Here for the full Telegraph article on the career of a true united icon.

Man "U" versus Tottenham

Manchester United took a huge step towards retaining their Premier League title with a 5-2 victory over Tottenham. TheTamshee says: the red devils had to dig deep to turn this game on it's head. 2 nil down at half time -but Sir Alex's boys stepped up a gear to demolish the Spurs with a brace apiece for Ronaldo & Rooney with Berba adding the icing. The word on the street is that Carlos Tevez will depart at the end of the season but Fergy had high praise for the Argentinian striker, "he may not have found the net, but his work-rate and link-up play with his fellow forwards was nothing short of breathtaking" hopefully he will have a change of heart and continue to grace the hallo turf of Old Trafford for a few seasons to come.

Sunderland versus Man "U"

Federico Macheda was not even born when Ferguson won his first piece of silverware at Old Trafford but for the second week running his latest fledgling secured late victory, returning the champions back to the top of the league. It might not have had the technical excellence of his spectacular winning goal against Aston Villa last week but with only his second touch the 17-year-old Italian striker instinctively cushioned Michael Carrick’s mis-hit shot beyond Craig Gordon, to send the away fans into rapture. Macheda is now averaging a goal every 22 minutes. TheTamshee says: Man "U" bounce back after the disappointing result against Porto. click here to continue reading this Telegraph acticle on the new wonder kid at Man"U" long may his scoring record continue, the pud-lay-ins have not given up the title challenge just yet.

Man "U" versus Aston Villa

Federico Macheda, a seventeen-year-old Italian plucked from Lazio’s youth system two years ago, making his Manchester United debut, might just go down as the boy who struck the telling blow in the 2008-09 Premier League title race with the stunning injury-time goal that enabled the champions to secure a barely deserved 3 - 2 victory against Aston Villa that saw them dislodge Liverpool from top spot with one game still in hand. TheTamshee: breathed a sigh of relief with this wonder goal that propels the red devils back to the top of the premier league. The best team in the world has been in a trough since the humiliation of the Liverpool defeat, then the unexpected Fulham result, sent the pundits tongues a wagging. Enter the great Sir Alex, with a make shift team of youth, drive and of course raw talent. The stage was set for an open game which swung in favour of Man"U" in the end. Aston Villa players can hold there heads high, they gave it there best shot to no avail.

Man"U" versus Liverpool

Liverpool turn on the style to win 4-1 after United led through Cristiano Ronaldo with Namanja Vidic sent off. TheTamshee says: the pain, a shock result - the red devils beaten at home - this opens up the championship to the delight of Rafael Benitez and the travelling fans but I am sure Sir Alex's team will bounce back with the determination required to finish the season at the top of the pile.

Tottenham versus Man"U"

Manchester United have a quintuple in their sights after Ben Foster's penalty shoot-out heroics helped them beat Tottenham 4-1 and win the Carling Cup after a goalless 120 minutes at Wembley

Sir Alex Ferguson's Red Devils remain in the hunt for five trophies this season, including the Club World Cup they had already won in December, after Foster saved from Jamie O'Hara in the shoot-out.
David Bentley also went wide with his penalty, and Anderson tucked away the winning spot-kick.
In his first major final Darron Gibson came mightily close to putting the Red Devils in front. However, while his shot was too much for Heurelho Gomes, it also flashed wide of the Brazilian's left-hand post.

West Ham versus Man"U"

Giggs'y does the business, the red devils maintain the momentum. West Ham 0 Man"U" 1 Giggs killed the ball’s momentum instantly, and then embarked on a run that, echoing Scholes’ contribution, the old ones can still be the best. ( see match report here )
Giggs cut inside the sliding Cole, who resembled a bull deceived by a master matador. Parker then came charging in, attempting to extinguish the fire lit by Giggs.
No chance. Giggs just dummied inside and shot right-footed, the ball racing past Green.
"Giggs will tear you apart again,’’ came the familiar chant from the United fans.

Edwin van der Sar

Edwin van der Sar's hopes of breaking the British record for minutes without conceding a goal at West Ham on Sunday have been plunged into doubt with the record-holder, Chris Woods, disputing the Manchester United goalkeeper's claim to the milestone.

Having eclipsed Steve Death's 31-year-old English league record by extending his Premier League shut-out run to 1,122 minutes during United's 1-0 victory against Everton at Old Trafford last Saturday, Van der Sar apparently edged to within 75 minutes of breaking the British record set by former England goalkeeper Woods with Rangers in the 1986-87 season.
Woods, now working as goalkeeping coach at Everton, had his 1,196 minute clean-sheet run ended by policeman Adrian Sprott in a 1-0 Scottish Cup humbling against Hamilton in January 1987. But the 49-year-old insisted that his British record will remain intact for at least another four games after citing Hideo Hashimoto's injury-time goal, which was conceded by Van der Sar during United's 5-3 victory against Gamba Osaka in the Fifa Club World Cup semi-final in Japan on Dec 18, as the key factor. Woods said: "Edwin's achievement in breaking the Football League record last week was an unbelievable feat but, as far as I'm concerned, he is still quite a way from beating my British record. "Nobody seems to be counting the goal he conceded in Japan, but if you take that into consideration, then his run in all competitions stands at nine games or 810 minutes. "It was obviously a Fifa-recognised fixture, so I would have thought that any goals conceded in that game would count towards a British record. We are not just talking about league fixtures because my record covered both league and cup games." Domestically, Van der Sar's unbeaten run stretches back to Samir Nasri's strike in the 2-1 defeat at Arsenal on Nov 8 and bookmakers have been offering odds since early last week on the Dutchman breaking not only Death's English record, but the British mark held by Woods and Abel Resino's world record figure of 1,275 minutes.
But with Woods's record relating to aggregate minutes without a goal in all competitions, he is confident that he will continue to hold a place in the history books. He said: "I should have had a bet on Edwin not breaking my record when the odds came out because he is still more than four games away from my total if you take into account the game in Japan.
"He might actually go on and beat it and, if he does, then I will be the first to congratulate him, but he is still some distance away from achieving it."

Bolton versus Man"U"

Berba comes to the rescue, it's never over until the fat lady sings. Bolton sunk, The Red Devils sit proudly on top "O" the pile, yet again.

Man"U" verses Chelsea

Its not smart to be smug but it comes as no surprised to here that the (best team in the world) had blasted three fantastic goals into the roof of the Chelsea net. It sends out a reminder that Fergies boys are up for the challenge of retaining the silverware. Unfortunitily i was unable to follow the action live due to high winds which took out a couple of satalite dishes onboard the rig. The (Berba) goal was a reel gem to put the icing on the cake, the Chelsea fans must be gutted that a one legged striker with what seems to be a squirrel on his head can cause so much havoc on a football field.

The Master Tactician

Well the canny scot, Sir Alex has managed to get under the skin and add a touch of "Red" to the Rafa (see here) will they ever learn. The legend, who has picked up 30 trophies in his time is the master tactician on the pitch with the ability to wind up the opposite camp at will, it seems. Offcourse time will tell if Liverpool or the "Blues" have the bottle to take the title from the champions of England, Europe the World.

How do they square up as players ?

Sir Alex, 1957 - 1974 Six senior clubs, 327 appearences resulting in 167 goals

Versus

Rafael "Rafa" Benitez 1974-1986, Three senior clubs, 405 appearences resulting in 118goals

Two nil to the Jock as far as I am concerned, Bring on the "Blues

Offshore Denmark

The pleasures of Hogmany have finally ended, time to travel back to my place of work, the NBW ( see here ) Offshore Denmark. It,s always a bit of a drag leaving the wife and kids but the bills have to be paid i keep telling myself. The journey, Edinburgh through Amsterdam then Billund and final destination at Esbjerg is never straight forward, there always seems to be delays with some farcical scenes at check in with the general public being humilitated. Imagine this "father carrying young kid sleeping over his shoulder is asked to remove his belt, hey presto gravity takes effect, say no more" Do the authorities really think they will identify some terroist by following these procedures, I think not. Anyway, now that i have got that of my chest, on arrival at rig site it was a pleasant surprise to find that i had won some prizes in the Xmas raffle, Westminster 44 piece cutlery set in gift box, a top notch Regatta all weather jacket, perfect for the hillwalking and a pair of cracking sun glasses, you know the ones those football blokey,s at Man"U" wear. Talking of the best "fitba" team in the World. Giggsy the pocket rocket, who has proved over many years to be a true profesional has been recognised in the art world (see here) portrait displayed in the National Library of Wales @ Aberystwyth, fame at long last, but i think Peter Edwards the artist has used a bit to much Grecian 2000