MANCHESTER UNITED...the RED DEVILS march on !!!

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Ferdinand back to plug United's leaky defence

Reuters - 47 minutes ago

By Sonia Oxley

MANCHESTER, England - Rio Ferdinand will return from injury to shore up Manchester United's defence and striker Wayne Rooney will put aside private turmoil for their Champions League opener against Rangers on Tuesday.

Rooney, who last week appealed for privacy after days of media speculation about his marriage, was left out of the squad for Saturday's Premier League trip to Everton as manager Alex Ferguson aimed to spare him abuse from fans of his former club.

United conceded two goals in stoppage time to draw 3-3, making news of the dependable Ferdinand's return after knee ligament problems particularly welcome before the all-British Group C match at Old Trafford .

"I think Rio will play on Tuesday night," local media quoted Ferguson as saying of the England defender who has been out of action since hurting his knee during training at the World Cup in June.

"It's a European tie at home and we've got to take advantage of that."

For that reason, Ferguson is likely to stick by his suggestion that Rooney, United's top goalscorer in the competition last year with five goals, will be back in the team after what the striker called an "extremely painful" time.

Scottish champions Rangers come into the match on the back of their own last-minute drama after Kenny Miller came off the bench to seal a 2-1 victory over Hamilton Academical on Saturday.

'HARD WORK'

The striker said Rangers, who failed to win any of their six Champions League matches last season, will need good fortune against three-times European champions United.

"You're playing against one of the best teams in Europe, if not the world," he told BBC Scotland. "It's going to take a lot of hard work and a bit of luck."

Rangers expect Steven Whittaker to be fit after he missed Saturday's game with a calf injury sustained on international duty with Scotland but fellow defender Kirk Broadfoot is doubtful after limping off at the weekend with an ankle problem.

The clubs' managers know each other well, with Walter Smith having worked as an assistant to Ferguson at United and for the Scotland national team.

Ferguson has the upper hand against the club he supported as a boy and who he also played for, with United having beaten Rangers and kept clean sheets in both previous encounters, in the group stage of the 2003-04 Champions League.

Police in the English city have stepped up security for the match, bringing in an extra 250 officers, to try to avoid a repeat of the crowd trouble that marred the 2008 UEFA Cup final between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg.

"This an opportunity for the club and the fans to put that behind them and move on and show that they can come and watch football and behave themselves," assistant chief constable Ian Hopkins told Reuters.

The other teams in Group C are Spain's Valencia and Turkish champions Bursaspor.

Possible teams

Manchester United - 1-Edwin Van der Sar; 22-John O'Shea, 5-Rio Ferdinand, 15-Nemanja Vidic, 3-Patrice Evra; 24-Darren Fletcher, 18-Paul Scholes, 11-Ryan Giggs, 17-Nani, 9-Dimitar Berbatov, 10-Wayne Rooney

Rangers - 1-Allan McGregor; 16-Steven Whittaker, 24-Madjid Bougherra, 3-David Weir, 5-Sasa Papac; 14-Steven Naismith, 8-Steven Davis, 7-Maurice Edu, 11-Kyle Lafferty, 9-Kenny Miller, 19-James Beattie

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Berbatov treble breaks Liverpool resistance

AFP - 51 minutes ago

LONDON (AFP) - – Dimitar Berbatov scored a hat-trick as Manchester United overcame a Liverpool fightback to win 3-2 in a classic Premier League battle at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Berbatov rose high to nod home an 84th-minute header to seal maximum points for United, who had seen Liverpool recover from two goals down thanks to a second-half brace from skipper Steven Gerrard.

The win saw Sir Alex Ferguson's side go level on points with second-placed Arsenal, and one point behind leaders Chelsea, who play Blackpool later on Sunday.

All the pre-match attention had been on the return of Wayne Rooney but it was in-form Bulgarian striker Berbatov who stole the show with a virtuoso display that left Liverpool shattered.

Berbatov put United 1-0 ahead on on 42 minutes after being left in acres of space by marker Fernando Torres when Ryan Giggs swung in a corner.

The Bulgarian then doubled United's lead on 59 minutes with a sublime effort, using one touch to control a Nani cross before sending an overhead kick crashing in off the underside of the Liverpool bar.

Ferguson later hailed the performance of Berbatov, who is enjoying his best run of form for United since his transfer from Tottenham in 2008 in a deal worth 30.75 million pounds (36.86 million euros).

"There was a lot of criticism of him last season from the media, and it happens when we buy a player for a lot of money and he's not scoring a hat-trick every game," Ferguson told Sky Sports.

"This season he's started off in the right fashion, his pre-season training was very good, the pre-season tour was good and he's carried that on.

"But there's never been any doubt about the quality of the man. And we saw that again today."

However, for the second league match running, United's defensive frailties were exposed once more as Ferguson's men saw a two-goal lead evaporate.

Centre-back Jonny Evans blatantly brought down Torres in the box to allow Gerrard to convert a spot-kick on 64 minutes.

Then, six minutes later, United's defence were at fault again for Liverpool's equaliser.

Referee Howard Webb booked John O'Shea for a tackle on Torres that left Gerrard with a free-kick from the edge of the area.

Gerrard's shot was accurate and hit with power but went straight through a hole in the United wall left by Darren Fletcher, to the disgust of United's beaten keeper Edwin van der Sar.

It was the second time in the space of a week that United had let slip a two-goal lead, having been held to a 3-3 at Everton last weekend.

Buoyed by the goals, Liverpool looked capable of taking all three points, but Berbatov's late header ended their fightback and left Roy Hodgson's team with only one win from five games.

Manchester City visit third-bottom Wigan Athletic in Sunday's other game.

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Berbatov hits hat-trick as United beat Liverpool

Reuters - 47 minutes ago

By Sonia Oxley

MANCHESTER - Dimitar Berbatov completed a brilliant hat-trick six minutes from time to give Manchester United a 3-2 win over Liverpool on Sunday after a Steven Gerrard double had seemed set to earn the visitors a draw.

United were dominant for the first hour with two goals for the Bulgarian, but two strikes in six minutes by Gerrard had the hosts reeling.

After late equalisers against Everton and Fulham cost them wins in earlier Premier League matches, United had time to find the winner on Sunday and Berbatov got his third goal with a powerful header.

"I was saying to myself it's going to be 10 but you end up 2-2; it was a travesty of a scoreline but a great result in the end," manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports.

"They didn't offer anything really, Edwin Scholes controlled the centre of midfield...I couldn't see us losing that game."

Despite their early dominance, United had to wait until the 42nd minute to find the net as Berbatov shook off a weak challenge from Fernando Torres to head in a Ryan Giggs corner.

His second goal just before the hour was brilliantly executed as he brought down a cross on his thigh with his back to goal and scored with an overhead kick.

RASH CHALLENGE

Liverpool, who had offered nothing in attack, profited from a rash challenge on Torres which enabled Gerrard to pull one back from the spot after 64 minutes.

Another unnecessary foul six minutes later gave Liverpool a free kick on the edge of the box which Gerrard curled through a disintegrating wall for the most unexpected of equalisers.

United won back the lead six minutes from time when Berbatov timed his jump perfectly to head home a John O'Shea cross and score his seventh goal in six games this season.

"There was a lot of criticism of him last year but this season he's started off in the right fashion and he's carried it along but there has never been any doubt about the quality of the man," Ferguson said of the Bulgarian.

The win takes United to 11 points, within one of leaders Chelsea, who were at home to Blackpool later on Sunday .

Liverpool remain in the doldrums with five points from five games under new manager Roy Hodgson.

"I thought our second-half performance was good and we deserved to get back in the game," Hodgson said.

"To concede late on was tough, especially with all three goals from crosses. But I thought we made a really good effort in the second half to get back in it."

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United romp to Carling Cup victory

Liverpool humbled by Northampton while Chelsea go out

Reuters - Thursday, September 23

By Mike Collett

LONDON - Liverpool suffered a humiliating home defeat on penalties by League Two Northampton Town in the English League Cup third round on Wednesday.

Northampton, 17th in the fourth tier of English soccer, forced a 2-2 draw after extra time before winning 4-2 in the shootout to continue Liverpool's poor start to the season under new coach Roy Hodgson.

The other big upset came at Stamford Bridge where Newcastle United became the first team to beat champions Chelsea this season, striker Shola Ameobi scoring with a glancing header in the final minute to secure a thrilling 4-3 win.

Big-spending Manchester City also went out, losing 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion after taking the lead, but holders Manchester United survived an early scare to crush Scunthorpe United 5-2.

Liverpool, fielding a largely second-string team, took an led through Milan Jovanovic but Northampton, who spent one season in the top flight in the mid-1960s, took the match to extra time through a 56th-minute strike by Billy McKay.

Northampton silenced Anfield by taking the lead eight minutes into the extra period through Michael Jacobs before a goal by striker David N'gog four minutes from time levelled the scores at 2-2 and sent the game to penalties.

The fourth division team controlled the shootout and Abdul Osman converted his spot-kick to secure a memorable 4-2 victory.

"Quite frankly, when they took the lead in extra time it was going to be an uphill battle," Hodgson told Sky Sports.

"We all know penalty shootouts are a little bit of a lottery but on the other hand when you are at home and you are kicking them in front of the Kop, you do harbour hopes at least that it's going to be your team that comes out on top," he added.

FIRST DEFEAT

Chelsea, also playing a much-changed side, lost a competitive match for the first time since April when Newcastle came from behind to claim their first victory at Stamford Bridge since 1986.

Chelsea went ahead early through defender Patrick Van Aanholt, but Newcastle roared into a 3-1 lead soon after halftime with goals from Nile Ranger, Ryan Taylor and Ameobi.

The hosts, reduced to 10 men after using all their substitutes, struck back with two Nicolas Anelka goals before Ameobi headed the winner.

"Nobody thought that we could win coming here, hopefully it will give us momentum for the games coming up. We showed great character and some good finishing to get back in the game" Newcastle manager Chris Hughton told reporters.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said he was pleased with his young team's display.

"We are disappointed about the result, but absolutely not about the performance," he said. "We had a fantastic reaction and showed good spirit when it was 11 against 10.

"We now know we can count in the future on these young players, but tonight was not our priority for the season."

Former England striker Michael Owen struck twice to send holders Manchester United through to the last 16 after coming from a goal down at Scunthorpe United.

Josh Wright put Scunthorpe ahead in the 19th minute before Darron Gibson equalised to open the floodgates.

Defender Chris Smalling made it 2-1, former England striker Owen grabbed his first after halftime and Park Ji-sung scored with a low shot into the corner.

Frenchman Gerard Houllier celebrated a 3-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers in his first match as Aston Villa manager with Ashley Young scoring twice in two minutes.

West Brom knocked out big-spending Manchester City 2-1 with two second-half goals in two minutes after Jo had put the visitors ahead.

Striker Simon Cox grabbed the winner in the 57th minute, tucking a precise shot past goalkeeper Shay Given.

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PHEW !...Saving Grace.

Owen rescues Man Utd in draw with Bolton

AFP - Monday, September 27

LONDON (AFP) - – Michael Owen scored his 200th goal in English club football as Manchester United twice came from behind to snatch a 2-2 draw against Bolton in the Premier League on Sunday.

Former Liverpool and England star Owen glanced in a 74th-minute header to give United a share of the points at the Reebok Stadium after Bolton had twice taken the lead through Zat Knight and Martin Petrov.

The draw saw United leapfrog Arsenal into second place in the table, three points behind league leaders Chelsea.

In a later kick-off, new Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier's first league match in charge of the Birmingham club saw them move up into fifth place as they won 2-1 away to Midlands rivals Wolves.

Houllier was indebted to Emile Heskey for the second time in a week as the former England striker's late goal sealed victory after he inspired a midweek comeback League Cup win over Blackburn Rovers.

In Bolton, Owen expressed disappointment that Sir Alex Ferguson's men had missed an opportunity to reduce Chelsea's lead to only a point after the champions were beaten 1-0 by Manchester City on Saturday.

"It's always a tough place to come. We created enough chances and dominated so we're disappointed to only get a point," Owen said, playing down the significance of his 200th goal in England.

"It's nice to score goals but it's obviously tinged with a bit of disappointment because we didn't get the three points.

Asked about failing to capitalise on Saturday's results, which saw both leaders Chelsea and Arsenal beaten, Ferguson added: "Teams drop points when we don't expect them.

"Away from home we've scored seven goals and only got three points, it's a very difficult league."

Bolton manager Owen Coyle added: "There is a tinge of disappointment but I'm very pleased with how the lads went about it."

Bolton had taken a shock lead after six minutes when Knight punished some slack marking from United centre-half Jonny Evans to flick home a Petrov corner with the outside of his right boot.

United finally got back on level terms though midway through the half with a scintillating individual effort from Nani.

After gathering the ball on halfway, the Portuguese international set off on a weaving run that took him to the edge of the Bolton area, and as the home defence backed off, the winger unleashed a hard low shot past Jaaskelainen.

Yet though United controlled possession thereafter they struggled to seriously threaten, with an out-of-sorts Wayne Rooney eventually being substituted after an hour with what looked like an ankle knock.

United were then rocked by Bolton's second goal on 67 minutes, Petrov rounding off a superb counter-attack which he had started by scoring with a rasping effort that took a big deflection off Fletcher.

Bolton should have made it 3-1 shortly afterwards, when Johan Elmander cleverly eluded Nemanja Vidic to go clear on goal only to blaze his shot over the bar.

Wanderers were left to rue their profligacy moments later when Owen, who had replaced Fletcher, glanced in his landmark goal in club football.

It seemed Villa would have to settle for a point until Heskey -- signed by then Liverpool manager Houllier for 11 million pounds a decade ago -- headed in Stephen Warnock's cross two minutes from time for what was his third goal in four games.

Stewart Downing put Villa ahead at Molineux before Matt Jarvis equalised just after the hour mark.

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Sigh !...the Great Fall !

Premier League - Papers: Keegan savages Rooney

Eurosport, Mon, 27 Sep 08:35:00 2010

Wayne Rooney's mug is plastered across the back pages of the tabloids and, once again, it's not good news for the under-fire Manchester United striker.

'ROOBISH' screams the Sun, carrying a tirade from former Newcastle and England manager Kevin Keegan against the underperforming Liverpudlian forward.

"Manchester United are minus Wayne Rooney at the moment," Keegan is quoted as saying. "His performance (in United's 2-2 draw at Bolton on Sunday) tells me his confidence is shot."

Keegan also said that Rooney was been hypocritical in blaming media intrusion for his lack of focus.

"You can't have all the contracts, you can't sell your wedding to magazines and things like this and suddenly say, 'That's the tap I want to turn on but we want to turn the other one off," said Keegan.

"You can't then turn around and say there's too much paparazzi around or there is too much publicity.

"One minute you are courting it, the next minute you're saying, 'I don't want this'."

The Sun meanwhile goes on to suggest that Michael Owen could be the go-to-guy for the Red Devils - having scored his 200th club career goal in England at the weekend - before pinpointing United's recent habit of conceding goals as the fault of: the goalkeeper, the full-backs, the centre-halves, and the midfield. Helpful.

West Ham goalkeeper Rob Green could be in trouble with the FA after making an obscene gesture at the end of the Hammers' 1-0 win over Tottenham on Saturday, the Daily Mirror reports.

Green - who has taken more than his fair share of flack after a series of error-strewn displays for club and country - followed up a fine performance against Spurs with a rather unsavoury signal to the press box at the final whistle, and could be fined if found guilty of misconduct by English football's governing body.

After handing in a transfer request and eyeing a move to Arsenal this summer, Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer is in talks to extend his current contract, signalling his intent to finish his career at the West London club, according to the Mirror.

The same paper also claims that Stoke captain Ryan Shawcross could be in for a spectacular January move, with Italian giants Juventus keen on the centre-back.

Juve coach Luigi Del Neri is keen to strengthen his defence after a woeful start to the Serie A season, and the 6'3" 23-year-old is high on the Turin club's list of targets.

Speaking of Stoke, Tony Pulis has launched an impassioned defence of his side's style in the Daily Mail, and calls for players to be booked retrospectively for diving.

"Crowds like to come and see competitive players and competitive teams," said Pulis of his team. "What we should do is isolate people who are trying to con the referees because they are also trying to con fellow members of their own union... If people fall over and they are not touched that is cheating and that is not fair on referees and officials."

'Drogba's Blues future in doubt' screams the Sun but the story itself is not one that will get Chelsea fans pressing the panic button with the Ivorian only admitting that he might not finish his career at the club.

In the Championship, Leicester boss Paulo Sousa is said to be on the brink of the sack after having only been in the job eight matches.

However, they won't be able to turn to Paul Gascogine (not that they would want to) because Geordieland's favourite son is all set to take charge of Garforth Town, of the Evo-Stik First Division North according to various sources with some even claiming the deal has been finalised (Mirror).

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Premier League - Papers: Barca in for Rooney

Eurosport Sun, 26 Sep 08:21:00 2010

Barcelona are ready to offer Wayne Rooney an escape route from Manchester United, according to the morning tabloids.

A highly-placed Barca source was quoted in the Sunday Mirror as saying: "Rooney’s position is worth monitoring if things become increasingly difficult for him in England."

Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted Rooney is struggling to cope with the media spotlight on him after allegations over his private life.

The News of the World report that Ferguson will ban his stars from holding a Christmas party in the wake of the Rooney scandal.

The Manchester United boss is upset after previous United parties saw a hotel damaged in 2006 and a rape charge - later dropped - against Jonny Evans a year later.

The Sunday Express report that Fergie is set to bid £12million for Atletico Madrid’s teenage keeper David de Gea.

Sir Alex and goalkeeping coach Eric Steele watched de Gea in La Liga action against Valencia rather than attend United's Carling Cup match in midweek.

And the Star on Sunday claim an exclusive from Wesley Sneijder who has apparently revealed that he would only play for Manchester United in the Premier League.

Sneijder is quoted as saying: "If somebody asks me if I will ever play for Manchester United, it’s impossible for me to say no. How can you say that if the chance came you would not play for one of the biggest clubs in the world."

On the blue side of Manchester, the NOTW report that City boss Roberto Mancini has had a blazing row with physio Jamie Murphy.

Manchester City's football administrator Brian Marwood is reported to have been forced to intervene after boss Mancini threatened to fire Murphy.

Mancini is furious with City's medical department over the club's crippling injury list.

Cardiff boss David Jones has added his voice to the criticism of Mancini’s training in the Mirror, blaming Craig Bellamy’s latest injury problems on the Italian.

Dutch fitness expert Raymond Verheijen has been helping with Bellamy’s recovery and has been using Twitter to warn City that Mancini is risking the health of his squad with his gruelling training methods.

Jones has added: “At Manchester City, Craig was training twice a day and that’s part of the problem. He’s probably overtrained. He overdid it and we’re paying the penalty for that."

Down the East Lancs Road and the Express report that Liverpool fans have mounted a campaign to sabotage co-owner Tom Hicks’ attempts to stay in control.

Reds fans have flooded US media outlets and financial centres with e-mails outlining their disgust at Hicks’ attempts to cling on to power.

The Sunday Telegraph report that Royal Bank of Scotland says it has not ruled out the possibility of Kop Holdings, the company which owns Liverpool, going into administration.

While the News of the World highlight that Inner Circle Sports, the firm which helped Hicks and George Gillett buy Liverpool, are now in talks with club chairman Martin Broughton to assist in an Anfield takeover.

The New York-based investment bankers are one of the six parties currently negotiating with Barclays Capital as the Merseysiders seek an end to the boardroom turmoil.

Broughton has emerged as the key target for the FA as they look to appoint a new chairman according to the Mirror.

The 63-year-old British Airways chairman looks odds on to be offered the job once he leaves the Premier League club.

While the same paper note that Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard is set to claim the England captaincy from Rio Ferdinand on a permanent basis.

One final piece of Anfield news from the red tops is in the Star with Bayern Munich said to be contemplating a £17 million offer goalkeeper Pepe Reina during the January transfer window as they attempt to take advantage of the Anfield club’s current crisis.

The NOTW claim Arsenal are also poised to make a fresh bid for Reina after a £15m bid was rejected during the summer.

After Manuel Almunia gifted West Brom a 3-2 win at the Emirates, Arsene Wenger is considering a new bid in the January transfer window to solve their long-standing goalkeeper problem.

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Fergie: Chelsea have had easy start

Thu, 07 Oct 07:18:47 2010

Sir Alex Ferguson has begun the mind games with Chelsea this season by claiming that they have had such an easy start, they should have won every game.

The Blues have romped to the top of the Barclays Premier League after winning all but one match so far this term, with their only setback a defeat at Manchester City, but United boss Ferguson, whose side slipped five points behind the champions after at the weekend following a goalless game at Sunderland, has suggested they should have a 100% record.

Asked if the Red Devils could not afford to drop any more points, Ferguson said: "No, no, no. Every team is going to drop points - that's inevitable. If you look at Chelsea's start to the season, you'd have expected them to have won all those games, so the position they're in doesn't surprise me."

He added: "Meanwhile, we've had tricky trips to Fulham and Everton then played Liverpool at home. Those are difficult matches.

"Liverpool, Arsenal and ourselves have all played top sides early on. Chelsea's sterner tests are still to come."

Ferguson accused his players of not being ruthless enough this season after watching them drop points in draws at Fulham, Everton and Bolton.

Speaking to the club's official magazine, Inside United, Ferguson said: "This present team doesn't kill off sides as well as they should.

"At Goodison, we had three or four chances at 3-1 to really put the game out of sight, but we were wasteful and ultimately paid the price. We threw away two goals in injury-time. That's unthinkable.

"That killer instinct just isn't there at the moment and it's something we need to develop.

"We haven't had a problem scoring goals. We got three against Liverpool, Everton and West Ham, two away at Fulham, three in the Community Shield; that suggests we don't have difficulty finding the net."

Fergie unsurprised by Chelsea dominance

Thu, 07 Oct 08:57:22 2010

Sir Alex Ferguson has begun the mind games with Chelsea this season by claiming that they have had such an easy start, they should have won every game.

The Blues have romped to the top of the Barclays Premier League after winning all but one match so far this term, with their only setback a defeat at Manchester City.

But United boss Ferguson, whose side slipped five points behind the champions at the weekend following a goalless game at Sunderland, has suggested they should have a 100% record.

Asked if the Red Devils could not afford to drop any more points, Ferguson said: "No, no, no. Every team is going to drop points - that's inevitable.

"If you look at Chelsea's start to the season, you'd have expected them to have won all those games, so the position they're in doesn't surprise me.

"Meanwhile, we've had tricky trips to Fulham and Everton then played Liverpool at home. Those are difficult matches. Liverpool, Arsenal and ourselves have all played top sides early on. Chelsea's sterner tests are still to come."

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Premier League - Macheda: Rooney is a bit vulgar

Thu, 07 Oct 11:49:00 2010

Federico Macheda may be in line for a tricky return to Old Trafford after an indiscreet comment to Italian journalists about beleaguered Manchester United team mate Wayne Rooney.

England forward Rooney, criticised in the past for swearing and spitting, was electric last season but struggled at the World Cup and has been in poor form this term while allegations about his private life have filled the tabloids.

"Rooney is a really great person, he always gives me advice, but he's a bit working class and vulgar," Macheda told Thursday's Gazzetta dello Sport while in Italy with the U21 team.

Roman Macheda, who himself hails from the inner city like Liverpool-born Rooney, is happy learning from the striker at United and dismissed speculation he might join former side Lazio on loan to gain more first team opportunities.

"I want to improve in Manchester, when I'm more mature I'll be able to make choices. The rumours about Lazio please me but I don't think I will go," the 19-year-old said.

However, Italy U21 goalkeeper Vito Mannone is getting itchy feet in England after failing to break through again at Arsenal this season despite Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski struggling at times.

"It hurts to not play especially when the other two are not doing great," Mannone said.

"I'll see, here the situation at Arsenal is not normal, I'd do six months on loan to play. Milan has been a dream since I was a kid."

Reuters

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Premier League - England back Rooney over injury

Thu, 14 Oct 19:34:00 2010

England physio Gary Lewin has appeared to back Wayne Rooney’s claims that he was fit all along, despite Sir Alex Ferguson telling press he has been suffering with an ankle injury.

Manchester United boss Ferguson said that Rooney’s problem that would take "two to three weeks to heal", ruling him out of the goalless draw with Sunderland on October 2, but he reported for England duty the following week and played in the Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro on October 12.

Rooney, who has been in poor form since initially injuring his ankle during the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich last season, said he had been training well for two months and was merely short of form - a claim apparently backed up by Lewin.

"We are in communication with the clubs every day so we knew what was going on with Wayne," Lewin told talkSport.

"I can only speak about the seven days he was with England and he trained every day and was fit for the game.

"'He had not played for Manchester United for two weeks before and what happened at United is between them and him. But when he arrived with us he was fit and available to play.

"Manchester United knew with the two weeks he had off and the treatment they were giving him that by the time he came to us he would be ready to train. And they were quite open with us about that.'"

Rooney - who has only scored once in open play for club and country since the World Cup started - has suffered personal problems as well as a dip in form this season.

Ferguson has repeatedly claimed his private issues had nothing to do with decisions to leave him out of the Sunderland game and the 2-2 draw with Everton in September.

The contradictory statements have led to speculation surrounding a possible exit for Rooney, who has been linked with Real Madrid and whose contract expires at the end of next season.

It has been rumoured that Rooney is considering leaving England due to the attention placed by the media on players’ private lives, while United’s heavy debt would prevent them giving him a pay hike to match wages available in Madrid.

Eurosport

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Premier League - Papers: Rooney set for Real ?

Thu, 14 Oct 09:21:00 2010

When the news emerged that Wayne Rooney was having a little bit of a lovers' tiff with Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson it was inevitable that one of the papers would do what they always do in these situations: link the striker with Real Madrid.

Step right up the Daily Star, whose back page screams 'ROO'S REAL WAR WITH FERGIE' as they squeeze extra juice out of an already over-ripe story. The Sun are also trotting out the 'Roo to Real' line.

A recap for those who missed the original story: when Rooney was asked after England's dour draw against Montenegro if his ankle had caused him any problems, Rooney said: "No, I've had no ankle problem all season."

Fergie, you might recall, had said Rooney had an ankle problem a few weeks ago and needed to rest, so Rooney was then asked: "Why did Alex Ferguson say you had?", to which he laughed and replied: "I don't know."

It has been a tough time for Rooney lately of course, with reports of him scoring off the field with prostitutes all over the tabloids being compounded by his lack of scoring on it.

However, despite such a fall from grace, the Star reckons Real are still prepared to launch a 'shock £75m swoop' for the United striker. Real hope that Rooney's friendship with Cristiano Ronaldo could seal the deal and who knows, maybe United's financial problems could see them forced into a sale too.

Meanwhile there are also rumours of another Old Trafford transfer - this time a potential arrival.

The Sun claims that Rangers' highly-rated goalkeeper Allan McGregor could come in as a long-term replacement for the soon-to-be-40-year-old Edwin van der Sar.

McGregor put in the latest of a string of top performances this season during Scotland's unlucky defeat to Spain on Tuesday and United would be willing to pay £7 million for his services.

There is plenty of Liverpool coverage in the papers this morning, but it is mostly just straight reporting of yesterday's events in the High Court and Texas - some stories are so dramatic they don't need be made up!

However, one transfer rumour does trickle through with the Daily Mirror claiming that Juventus are eager to sign Liverpool full-back Glen Johnson in the January transfer window despite the 26-year-old having a contract until 2013.

The same paper also claims that the blue half of Merseyside could lose a key player with John Heitinga quoted as saying he'd "definitely be interested" in joining reported suitors Bayern Munich.

And the final Liverpool-based titbit concerns a report in the Guardian that Reds legend and former Chester City boss Ian Rush has put himself forward for consideration for the Wales job.

Some more transfer rumours: Turkish club Fenerbahce are said to be keen on bringing Tuncay back home but will not pay anything near the £5m that Stoke paid Middlesbrough for the roaming forward.

Birmingham City are looking to make a bid for Southampton midfielder Adam Lallana in the January transfer window with £3m being the fee quoted. (Daily Mail)

The Mail also reckon Aston Villa are considering a £2m bid for Toulouse winger Franck Tabanou, and that Young Boys defender Ammar Jemal could move to Stoke City for £1.5m.

Finally, new Leicester boss Sven-Goran Eriksson is already being linked with loan players: Blackburn striker Jason Roberts (Mirror) and Tottenham's Kyle Naughton (Mail) are two players mentioned as possible arrivals.

Eurosport

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How Fergie inspired Mourinho to come to England

Wed Oct 13 02:10PM

Ask most Manchester United fans who they would like to see replace Sir Alex Ferguson and the name you will hear most frequently is Jose Mourinho.

There's not absolute conviction, just as Real Madrid fans were not convinced when his name was first linked to their club earlier in the year, but if anyone is big enough to step into Ferguson's shoes, it's the Special One.

Mourinho said last week that he considered Madrid to be the biggest team in the world, saying that when they travel it's like the Beatles arriving in San Francisco.

He stated also that his intention was to win the European Cup during the four years which he is contracted to Real Madrid. His reputation as a great manager would be secured if he brought that elusive 10th European Cup to Madrid and he'd be the first to win club football's greatest trophy in three different countries. Yet he never won the competition while at Chelsea.

Mourinho has also said that he'd like to return to England. He puts his obvious enthusiasm for management in England down to Alex Ferguson. The pair met for the first time in 1996 when Mourinho was a lowly assistant to Bobby Robson at Barcelona. A United delegation including Ferguson flew to Catalonia to sign Jordi Cruyff. Robson had been telling the young Mourinho how a coach in England was much more hands on.

"In Portugal or Spain, it would not be normal for a coach to be involved," recalls Mourinho in Patrick Barclay's new biography of Sir Alex Ferguson, published this Thursday.

"I realised that England was different. It was a perfect example of what Bobby had been telling me."

"His (Ferguson's) ideas were very clear. He was fighting hard for his club. And an understanding of that dimension of management made me take an even greater interest in the English game, to fall in love with it even before I came.

"I had always thought that the coach should not just do a training session a day, then go home and watch a couple of videos of the opposition and come in and do the same thing the next day. And here I saw the English style of management - and it was Sir Alex."

The pair would come head-to-head eight years later when United drew FC Porto in the Champions League. United were leading in Portugal, but lost, with Roy Keane sent off.

"Most people thought Sir Alex was going mad about it after the game," said Mourinho. "But for me - especially now that I have got to know him - he was not mad. He was starting to play the second game."

It began in the tunnel.

"He and I were walking to the dressing rooms at the same time and he was shaking hands with me but not looking at me because the referee was coming behind us and Alex was complaining in his Scottish accent about the referee's decisions. I didn't interfere. I just let him get on with it.

"At that moment, I think, he felt he was in trouble.

"Manchester United had gone into the game with respect, of course, but expecting to beat Porto. And now he knew Porto was a team of some resources too. And so he started, as I have done all my career - and he's the master at it - to play the next game before it starts. In this case he was trying to create an atmosphere in which his own team would want revenge.

"He went into the press conference, mentioned that Porto had won a few titles and said maybe we had got used to buying them at the supermarket! He was trying to put the knife into his own players while making mine - young boys, mainly, unaccustomed to the Champions League - feel a little low, as if they had not deserved to win."

Porto prevailed at Old Trafford to go through. Describing the pandemonium in the dressing room, Mourinho says: "You would have thought we had won the World Cup. And then there was a knock on the door. It was Alex, with Gary Neville. As they came in, everybody fell silent, respectful. The party stopped. The party was over. And, as Gary Neville went round shaking hands with my players, Alex shook hands with me and said that, after the press conference, I was invited to come to his office for a drink.

"What a special person it was, I thought, who would do anything to win but, if he lost, still do that. At that moment I made a decision. It was that, if I ever came to England, I would follow this example."

Mourinho arrived at Chelsea soon after and his meetings with Ferguson became commonplace.

"Beforehand," said Mourinho, "we would play our game with words. Then there would be the game on the field. And afterwards - win, lose, draw - our tradition was to have a bottle of wine.

"He started it. He always had one in his office. So I decided it could not always be him and brought a bottle myself, a good one, Portuguese. And that started a competition. Who would bring the best bottle? Who would bring the most expensive? He came with a fine Bordeaux, I would retaliate - always with a Portuguese wine - and so it went on."

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Van der Sar blunder costs United as Chelsea held

Reuters - Sunday, October 17

By Mitch Phillips

LONDON - Manchester United threw away a 2-0 lead after a Patrice Evra own goal and an error by Edwin van der Sar saw them held 2-2 by West Bromwich Albion while Premier League leaders Chelsea drew 0-0 at Aston Villa Saturday.

Chelsea, who hit the woodwork twice late in the evening game, top the standings with 19 points. United, who started with striker Wayne Rooney on the bench, have now drawn five of their eight league games and are among four teams on 14.

Arsenal, who came from behind to beat Birmingham City 2-1 at the Emirates, and Tottenham Hotspur, who ended Fulham's unbeaten start with a 2-1 win at Craven Cottage are level with United.

Sunday, Everton play Liverpool in the highly-anticipated derby .

At Old Trafford, United looked to be cruising having taken a 2-0 lead after 25 minutes but Evra's own goal and a rare blunder from goalkeeper Van der Saar, who dropped the ball at the feet of Somen Tchoyi, saw the home side pegged back.

Rooney played in England's goalless draw with Montenegro on Tuesday and said after the match, contrary to the claims of his club manager Alex Ferguson, that he was fully fit.

Fit or not, the striker was among the substitutes against West Brom and Ferguson looked to have got it right when Rooney's replacement, Javier Hernandez, tapped in after goalkeeper Scott Carson dropped a Nani freekick in the fourth minute.

The Portugal winger then added a second on the break.

West Brom, who won at Arsenal last month, continued to press though and within 10 minutes of the restart they were level.

VAN DER SAAR BLUNDER

United defender Nemanja Vidic was inches away from making it 3-0 when he headed against a post but moments later it was 2-1 courtesy of Evra's own goal.

Then the usually reliable Dutchman Van der Saar, faced with the simplest of catches, let the ball slip from his grasp to Tchoyi who gleefully equalised for the hard-working visitors.

Rooney eventually joined the fray for the last 20 minutes, but played on the left wing and made little impact as West Brom ended the game looking the more dangerous side.

"It has gone from a fantastic first-half performance to giving the game away really, it should have been four or five by halftime," Ferguson told Sky Sports News.

"We've made some glorious chances and it's frustrating we are not killing teams off. It's not acceptable for the supporters or me."

Of Van der Saar's blunder, he said: "Inexplicable, it's a mistake that Edwin probably would make the only time in his life. The last time he made a mistake like that was probably at primary school."

A win for Chelsea would have taken the champions seven-points clear but, without several injured players including forward Didier Drogba, they were below par.

Branislav Ivanovic and Nicolas Anelka hit the woodwork but so did Ciaran Clark for hard-working Villa.

Arsenal fell behind to a Nikola Zigic header, levelled with a Samir Nasri penalty and took the points with Marouane Chamakh's impressive run and shot just after the break.

The win was spoiled at the end with a straight red card for Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere after a wild tackle that will have embarrassed manager Arsene Wenger, who used his program notes to bemoan the decline in tackling standards.

"He got the red card he deserved," said Wenger.

"But it was his first tackle in the game and you have to acknowledge that he got a red card and he deserved it but he didn't spend the whole game kicking people, he didn't want to harm the player -- he mistimed his tackle."

Spurs also trailed to a Diomansy Kamara goal but Roman Pavlyuchenko quickly levelled and Tom Huddlestone won it with a crisp, low shot although Fulham were furious it was allowed to stand after the referee ignored a linesman's offside flag.

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GAME OVER ???

Rooney 'ready to quit' United: reports

AFP - 1 hour 11 minutes ago

LONDON (AFP) - – The future of Wayne Rooney dominated media reports here Monday as speculation mounted that the Manchester United superstar was set to leave Old Trafford following a rift with Sir Alex Ferguson.

Although Manchester United officials have dismissed talk of Rooney being sold as "nonsense," the denial failed to halt an avalanche of media coverage stating the player was determined to quit the English giants.

Several newspapers reported that Rooney's previously close relationship with Ferguson had deteriorated irrevocably following a bust-up over lurid tabloid revelations about the striker's private life which emerged last month.

The Times cited unidentified sources as saying Rooney and Ferguson had "not had a civil conversation for weeks."

The Daily Mail said Rooney now wanted to leave as soon as possible, saying the England star felt aggrieved by a perceived lack of support from Ferguson over reports alleging he cheated on his wife with prostitutes.

Ferguson chose to rest Rooney for the match immediately following the scandal, against Everton, and has since left him out of the starting line-up for games against Sunderland, Valencia and West Bromwich Albion.

The first sign of a rift between the pair was exposed last week when Rooney openly contradicted Ferguson's claim that he had been nursing an ankle injury, saying he had not missed a training session all season.

That defiant statement has been viewed as a declaration of war by Rooney, who has less than two years left to run on his existing contract with United and who is valued at around 50 million pounds.

If Rooney is determined to leave, United -- who have debts totalling more than 700 million pounds -- will be forced to cash in while they can or risk him leaving for nothing in 18 months time.

While Ferguson has not been afraid to off-load star players in the past -- getting rid of Paul Ince, Jaap Stam, David Beckham, Roy Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooy -- Rooney's exit would be unprecedented, the Mail commented.

"Rooney is different not just because he is the one reaching for the eject button, but because he remains in his prime and the most important member of the United team," the paper noted.

"If Rooney leaves it would blow a gaping hole in not only Ferguson's front line but also in the morale of the team."

The Times meanwhile identified Real Madrid and Manchester City as the likeliest suitors in any race to sign Rooney, nothing that Real manager Jose Mourinho was a long-term admirer of the player.

The prospect of Rooney crossing Manchester to sign for City -- a transfer which would horrify United fans -- was also possible, the Times said.

"If hypothetically speaking, the situation has not been resolved by January and City offer 45 million pounds for a player who is at odds with his manager and whose contract is running down, could (United) really say no?," the paper asked.

However Real Madrid sporting director Jorge Valdano sought to dampen down speculation of a move for Rooney, saying Monday the Spanish giants would not be looking to add to their squad in the winter transfer window.

"In January, there will be no new arrivals and no departures," he told Spanish television channel Telemadrid in an interview quoted by AS sport daily.

"Real already have two great forwards: (Gonzalo) Higuain and Cristiano (Ronaldo). There's also (Angel) di Maria and (Mesut) Oezil who support the forwards. Who would we drop?"

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Rooney's place on periphery needs urgent resolution

Reuters - 2 hours 42 minutes ago

By Mitch Phillips

LONDON - In eight months Wayne Rooney has plummeted from "the best player in the world" to a substitute against West Bromwich Albion and his current position on the Old Trafford periphery will need to be sorted out very soon.

Manchester United's fans -- and their American owners -- do not expect the England striker to be warming the bench, particularly when the player says he is fit, even if manager Alex Ferguson says otherwise.

Media suspect a falling-out with Ferguson but United issued a statement on Sunday describing as "nonsense" suggestions that the striker, bought from Everton for 25 million pounds in 2004, was about to be sold.

It may be harder to deny, however, that his relationship with Ferguson is not completely harmonious.

Rooney certainly did not resemble on Saturday a man who appreciated being "rested" by his boss.

His argument, according to media on Monday quoting unnamed "sources," is that he can never rediscover the form which marked him out as one of the global game's top players without actually getting match practice with his club.

Rooney's contract, reported to earn him around 90,000 pounds a week, expires at the end of next season.

If, as the newspapers claim, he is refusing to sign an extension, United might have to consider trying to recoup some of their outlay before he becomes a free agent in June 2012.

It is quite a contrast from last season, when Rooney scored 34 goals.

Observers queued up to describe Rooney as vying with Lionel Messi for the "best in the world" tag but it all started to go wrong when he twisted his ankle in the last minute of a Champions League match against Bayern Munich at the end of March.

He came back too soon, clearly unfit, and did not score again all season.

Instead of the World Cup becoming his crowning glory, it became an albatross around his neck as he stumbled from game to game looking jaded and desperately out of touch.

He looked little better in his return to the Premier League before stories about his private life broke, claiming he had been unfaithful with a prostitute while his wife was pregnant.

Ferguson left him out of United's game at Everton in September, saying he wanted to spare him the vitriolic taunts of his former fans, then also left him out of the team against Valencia, saying he had an ankle injury.

Rooney, whose only United goal this season was a penalty and who last scored for them in open play in March, hit back last week saying he was fine, had not missed a day's training and did not know why his manager said he was injured.

Having shipped out the likes of David Beckham, Paul Ince, Jaap Stam and Ruud van Nistelrooy after differences of opinion, Ferguson has shown that he is unsentimental when it comes to personnel problems and the next few weeks of the Old Trafford soap opera are going to make fascinating viewing.

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Not just Rooney looking out for number one

Tue Oct 19 08:55AM

The reports that Wayne Rooney wants to leave Manchester United continue to rumble on, and everybody has now got their teeth firmly sunk into the story.

Like the government's spending review, or the continued existence of Jedward, this is one of those issues on which everyone has an opinion.

And when there are opinions to be bandied about, where better to look than Portman Road? Ever since Roy Keane took over at Ipswich Town, his press conferences have often been less about dispensing the latest Tractor Boys team news and more about him setting the world to rights.

In fairness, he is only answering questions being put to him, but he clearly enjoys his role as a quasi-pundit. So when asked about the reports that Rooney wants out of Old Trafford he was typically forthcoming.

He said: "If I was to offer advice to Wayne, who is a good lad, I would tell him to make sure he looks after number one.

"Players and managers fall out all the time. It is part of life. Players are pieces of meat - that's how I look at it. When your time's up, your time's up."

Considering the nature of the tabloid allegations at the root of this whole issue, the phrase "pieces of meat" may be a little unfortunate, but the former United skipper does have a point.

According to one of The Sun's seven pages of coverage on the matter, United manager Alex Ferguson has not spoken to Rooney for a month, ever since the scandal first hit the front pages.

How do we know this? Why, a well-placed source of course, one who has that uncanny ability to speak exactly in the same style as the newspaper they are informing.

The source said: "Wayne doesn't just feel frozen out, he feels like he's been put into deep freeze."

If there is any truth in the story, then you have to question Ferguson's reaction.

Yes, he is well within his rights to make a moral point out Rooney's alleged indiscretions, with United being just one of the many global brands the player is paid so highly to represent.

But if all that were stripped away, he would still be handsomely paid to play football. The same would not be true the other way around.

Rooney is still United's star player, and they have suffered for his loss of form, drawing five of their opening games. They have already dropped six points from winning positions so far this season, twice as many as they did for the whole of last term.

Surely it's in Ferguson's interest to do whatever it takes to get his main man right in the head playing well again. A fit and firing Rooney would not only arrest (if not reverse) United's decline but, if he did still want to leave, he would be an even more lucrative prospect on the transfer market.

Ferguson has a long history of falling out with star players and shipping them out, but he has always had plenty of quality in his squads to back his decisions, and plenty of money to spend. Now, with both a lot thinner on the ground, will preserving his reputation at the expense of losing last season's double Player of the Year be a self-preserving step too far?

We may get some answers today when Fergie takes his pre-match presser ahead of tomorrow's Champions League clash at home to Bursaspor. After just two newspapers were invited to his appearance yesterday to announce the club's new deal to donate to UNICEF, in which questions about Rooney were banned, the continent's most rabid hacks will be on his case today.

With not a word being uttered publicly from either camp on the matter yet, the media has already been forced to start eating itself, reporting on the 'speculation intensifying' in the absence of anything new to add from those involved.

Even when a solid news line emerges, it is ignored in favour of the more sensationalist angle. Real Madrid, supposedly the most likely destination for Rooney just 24 hours ago, have twice come out and said Rooney will not be joining them in January.

Real director Jorge Valdano ("In January there will be neither ins nor outs") and manager Jose Mourinho ("I don't think he will (leave). I think the big man (Ferguson) will persuade him to stay") have both played down the idea, but instead attentions have switched to imagining the sort of money Rooney could receive at Manchester City and mocking up images of him wearing a sky blue shirt in Photoshop.

In the midst of all this, take a moment to think of Rooney's agent, Paul Stretford, who will be rubbing his hands together at the prospect of the bumper fee he will net for his client either moving on or signing a new United deal. There is more than one party in this affair looking out for number one.

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Premier League - Mourinho: Rooney will stay at United

Mon, 18 Oct 18:21:00 2010

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has dismissed media reports that Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney might leave his club after falling out with his boss Alex Ferguson.

The reports have prompted speculation that the England international would be a target for Mourinho's Real Madrid but the former Chelsea and Internazionale boss played down the situation.

"I don't think he will (leave). I think the big man (Ferguson) will persuade him to stay," Mourinho said after Monday's Champions League news conference ahead of the visit of AC Milan.

Earlier, Real director general Jorge Valdano had poured cold water on the idea that the club might be looking to sign a striker in the January transfer window.

The club have recently been linked with Rooney and Athletic Bilbao's in-form Spanish international Fernando Llorente.

"We have two marvellous players up front (Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain) and they proved they were able to score 60 goals between them last season," Valdano told Spanish television station Telemadrid.

"Mesut Ozil and Angel Di Maria will help... The question is who do we take out if Rooney comes? We have young players at the club with a lot to prove, such as Karim Benzema, and at best we are sorted out for the next 10 years."

Reuters

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Keane: Rooney must look after no 1

Tue, 19 Oct 07:23:55 2010

ShareretweetEmailPrintRoy Keane has told Wayne Rooney to look after himself as Manchester United finally get ready to respond to the explosion of interest in the England striker's future.

With a UEFA press conference planned for Tuesday afternoon to preview Wednesday's Champions League showdown with Bursaspor, Sir Alex Ferguson knows he will face some pretty intense questioning about his relationship with Rooney.

"If I was to offer advice to Wayne, who is a good lad, I would tell him to make sure he looks after number one," said the Ipswich manager.

The relationship is said to have deteriorated so badly that Rooney has told United there is no way he will sign a contract extension when the current one ends in 2012.

There remains a possibility manager Ferguson could head the whole thing off by releasing a statement earlier in the day in an attempt to clarify a number of issues, which in itself would be an extraordinary step for a player.

Yet, as someone whose own, even more illustrious, Old Trafford career was brought to a brutal end in four lines of appreciative quotes from his manager in November 2005, Keane has told Rooney to consider only one person as he looks ahead to the remainder of his career.

"Players and managers fall out all the time. It is part of life," said the Ipswich manager. "Players are pieces of meat - that's how I look at it. When your time's up, your time's up."

Thus far, Ferguson has kept his own counsel, although he looked relaxed as he attended a £1million extension of United's charitable work for UNICEF on Monday.

Behind the scenes however, work is under way to try to fashion some kind of response to a situation United's insiders admit has caught them by surprise, if only because of the manner of it.

Even as recently as Monday afternoon, suggestions of high-level conversations involving United officials gave rise to the idea Rooney was being persuaded to sign a new contract. But Press Association Sport understands this is not the case and the entire stand-off remains exactly as it was on Sunday, when it became apparent exactly how fractured the relationship between Rooney and Ferguson has become.

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Premier League - Ferguson: Rooney wants to leave

Tue, 19 Oct 15:34:00 2010

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Wayne Rooney wants to leave Manchester United and will not sign a new contract.

"We are as bemused as anyone can be, we can't quite understand why he would want to leave," Ferguson said.

Ferguson said Rooney's agent broke off contract talks with chief executive David Gill after the World Cup, and the player confirmed his intention to leave in a subsequent meeting.

"I was in the office on August 14 and David phoned me to say he wasn't signing a contract," Ferguson told MUTV. "He came across to see me and said 'I can't believe this'. I could not believe it. I was dumbfounded.

"Only months before he was saying this was the greatest club in the world and he wanted to stay for life.

"We just don't know what's changed the boy's mind really."

He insisted he had not fallen out with Rooney over a recent ankle injury, but said he was disappointed with the player's insistence he was not injured.

"I knew very well that he was carrying an injury, we sent him for a scan which showed a minor defect, nothing serious but it needed treatment, and he had treatment."

Ferguson said he had no idea why Rooney wanted to leave, but would leave the door open for him to change his mind, "simply because he is such a good player".

"We've done nothing but help him since he's been at this club."

Rooney joined the club from Everton in 2004 as an 18-year-old for £27m, a world record for a player aged under 20.

He helped them to Premier League titles in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the Champions League in 2008.

The manager said Rooney would not play in Wednesday's Champions League match against Bursaspor because of an ankle injury.

A United press officer said that Rooney was stretchered off at the end of training on Tuesday.

Alex Chick / Reuters

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Premier League - Rooney could leave for £5m

Tue, 19 Oct 11:13:00 2010

Wayne Rooney could walk away from Manchester United next summer for just £5 million due to a little-used FIFA ruling.

The Webster ruling allows players to buy out the last year of their contracts for the price of their wages plus a nominal compensation fee, meaning that the England talisman could leave for less than a tenth of his market value.

According to a report in The Independent, Spanish law firm Ruiz Huerta y Crespo - who have been involved in every major Webster ruling case - have confirmed that Rooney would qualify to leave next summer for a bargain price.

Rooney signed his current in November 2006, meaning that he has served more than the minimum three-year 'protected period' during which United could have blocked a deal.

Webster ruling transfers can only take place in the summer, but the revelation that Rooney could walk away for so little is expected to force Manchester United into action - either to sell the player in January or tie him down to a new contract.

And with Rooney having already rejected an offer of £150,000 a week to stay at Old Trafford, the odds on him leaving in the next transfer window appear to be growing by the day.

The Webster ruling is named after former Hearts defender Andy Webster, who set the legal precedent after forcing a move to Stoke in 2006.

Eurosport

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Premier League - Papers: Torres to United

Tue, 19 Oct 08:59:00 2010

Manchester United are determined to land Liverpool striker Fernando Torres if Wayne Rooney leaves Old Trafford, according to this morning's papers.

The Daily Star - whose Sunday edition was the first to nail the Rooneygate story at the weekend - reports that Alex Ferguson will make a £50 million bid to bring the injury-prone Spaniard to United.

Fergie has long been a fan of Torres, and was vying for his signature alongside Liverpool when the player originally moved to England.

And though £50m is a lot of cash for debt-laden United, the Red Devils boss reportedly hopes that the commercial value of landing Torres would outweigh the financial concerns.

Needless to say, the papers are almost completely dominated by the Rooney news, with the biggest story being that the striker will go to Manchester City for an astonishing £500,000 a week.

Such wages sound ridiculously far-fetched, but the Daily Telegraph and Independent point out that Rooney could leave for just £5 million under the Webster ruling should he not depart in January.

Most of the papers lead with the United v City angle, though, with the piece that really caught Paper Round's eye coming in the Daily Mirror. The paper runs a pair of opinion pieces from fans, with the secretary of City's supporters club and an assistant editor on the Man United Red News fanzine both having their say.

And it's the piece by Liam Bradford of Red News that really made PR chuckle.

"It's hilarious that City fans think they could get Rooney. They are deluded, completely deluded," says Bradford. "First and foremost, he's not going anywhere, and second, even if he did, Manchester City is the last place in the world he would go."

We'll leave it up to you to decide exactly who is and who isn't deluded.

In non-Rooney-related news, Liverpool are reported to be interested in a £6m move for Russian striker Alexander Kerzhakov, who has developed a useful habit of banging in hat-tricks for Zenit St Petersburg of late.

West Brom are to make a bid to sign unsettled Turkish forward Tuncay from Stoke. Besiktas and Galatasaray want to bring the mercurial star back to his homeland, but Roberto Di Matteo wants to keep him in the Premier League.

And finally, former England striker Darius Vassell could be on his way back to English football - courtesy of the manager who gave him his England break, Sven Goran Eriksson.

Eriksson is in talks with the 30-year-old about a free transfer to Leicester following his release over the summer by Turkish side Ankaragucu.

Eurosport

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Fergie wants United to kill games off

Tue, 19 Oct 14:04:49 2010

Sir Alex Ferguson has called on Manchester United to "put their own house in order" in Wednesday's Champions League tie with Turkish champions Bursaspor.

United head into the game on the back of their 2-2 draw with West Brom at Old Trafford, when they surrendered a two-goal lead for the third time this season.

In addition, they conceded a late equaliser at Fulham after missing a penalty which would almost certainly have secured victory.

It means that, quite apart from the Wayne Rooney saga, United have serious issues to address and Ferguson is determined to shake his players out of their comfort zone.

"We cannot afford to make the kind of mistakes that undid us against Albion, nor must we fail to take our chances if we are in a position to kill a game off," he told United Review. "The defensive errors, while costly, don't worry me so much because those kind of inexplicable errors can and do happen.

"But what does concern me is the way we slipped into the comfort zone after taking a two-goal lead with some incredibly good football. We have been there before of course. We let both Fulham and Everton off the hook when we were in a position to have killed those games off. We created the chances to have scored four or five against West Brom, but we didn't take them and paid for it."

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Could Rooney play in Spain ?

Tue Oct 19 01:21PM

Could Wayne Rooney play in Spain? That is something the player and his agent will be weighing up at the moment.

Sir Alex Ferguson and Rooney have fallen out - and there's only one winner when a player crosses the Scot. Ferguson has been appalled at his behaviour off the pitch, baffled by his continued lack of form on it.

He's told people at Manchester United that Rooney can be sold. Rooney has brought a lot of the grief on himself, but most fans couldn't care less if he wants to indulge in Bakewell, apple or Bolton tarts as long as he's still scoring. Goals, that is. When he didn't, his problems began to mount.

Rooney has been a brilliant footballer for United, but Ferguson is one to look at the future and not the past.

It all seems harsh and very, very swift, but that's Ferguson's style. No player is too big to be moved on and Ferguson has moved on the biggest. The only player he didn't want to lose was Cristiano Ronaldo. David Beckham, Jaap Stam, Roy Keane, Paul Ince and Ruud van Nistelrooy all went because Fergie decided so. They all took two or three years before they forgave their former manager.

Two those players went to Madrid, and Real would be one of the few options open to Rooney should he, as expected, leave Old Trafford.

Barcelona, Internazionale and Manchester City would be the only other teams who would pay the £150,000 weekly wage that his agent would be looking for.

With Rooney's stock battered by his poor form and off-the-field indiscretions, negotiating such a deal for Rooney would be harder than a year ago - no matter how weak the pound is against the Euro.

A Spanish journalist put the Rooney question to Madrid's sporting director Jorge Valdano, who replied that Madrid already have "two wonderful players (Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain) up front and they showed last season that they are able to score 60 goals."

He also mentioned Angel di Maria and Mesut Ozil, while stating that Karim Benzema "had a lot to prove."

Still, Madrid would be the most likely destination should he move abroad. Even with the Fergie Mk II that is Jose Mourinho, the club are obsessed by image and marketing. Rooney is by a distance the biggest seller of merchandise at Old Trafford and Florentino Perez would love to translate that to the Bernabeu as he did with Beckham.

But would it work? If Rooney does move to Spain, then he needs to be more like Steve McManaman, Gary Lineker and Jonathan Woodgate when it comes to learning Spanish rather than Mark Hughes, Ian Harte and Michael Owen.

The former group learned Spanish, the latter didn't get beyond the ‘dos cervezas' stage. They didn't last long, while the lads who did learn Spanish loved their time in Spain, even though injury curtailed Woodgate's appearances.

I've interviewed Rooney a few times in Barcelona. He's likeable and matures with every interview, but didn't marvel at the city or club like other British players. There was one occasion when I saw him meet Ronaldinho for the first time. The Brazilian is trilingual, but doesn't speak English. He tried.

"Hola, hello. Do you speak Spanish?" he asked falteringly, nodding and smiling.

"Er, no mate," laughs Rooney, shaking his head. Studying Castilian verb tables isn't a priority for the youth of Croxteth.

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Premier League - Where will Rooney end up ?

Tue, 19 Oct 18:54:00 2010

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney has told manager Alex Ferguson that he wants to leave the Premier League club but where might he end up?

While Ferguson is still hopeful that his key striker will stay, the news is likely to spark a scramble for him during the January transfer window.

Following are some clubs who may be interested in bringing Rooney in:

REAL MADRID

The nine-times European champions would certainly be able to find the money should they decide to compete for Rooney's signature but club president Florentino Perez is known to be wary of players with problems in their private life.

Real signed Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United as part of a massive investment programme last year and new coach Jose Mourinho may be tempted to renew an attacking partnership that carried United to two Champions League finals.

On the other hand, Real do not really need a new striker, with Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain and Mesut Ozil in their ranks.

"We have two marvellous players up front (Ronaldo and Higuain) and they proved they were able to score 60 goals between them last season," Real general director Jorge Valdano told Spanish television on Monday.

MANCHESTER CITY

Owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has spent more than £300 million since taking charge of the club and much of this has gone on bringing in forwards, including Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz and Mario Balotelli.

They have still not managed to bring in a true marquee name, however, after the failure to sign Kaka from AC Milan in 2009.

City have a geographical advantage over other potential suitors as a move United's neighbours would allow the striker to stay rooted in North West England.

The question remains whether Rooney would want to move to United's fierce local rivals. Only a move to Liverpool would generate more bad feeling than that.

CHELSEA

Free-scoring Chelsea are not in any immediate need of a striker with Didier Drogba, the Premier League's top scorer last season, and Nicolas Anelka among the players at their disposal.

The sort of wages Rooney would command may also be an obstacle to owner Roman Abramovich who has tightened the purse strings in recent seasons.

Players of Rooney's calibre, however, do not become available that often and the Russian billionaire may think he would be a worthwhile investment given Drogba is now aged 32.

Another plus point is that Rooney's transfer fee may be relatively low given his United contract is due to expire in June 2012.

"He has some problems at the moment but right now he is still a Man United player," manager Carlo Ancelotti said of Rooney.

"If you want to know what players Chelsea want to buy and how much money they want to spend you should ask Roman."

BARCELONA

The Catalan club recently signed David Villa, but since the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to AC Milan, they have lacked a player with Rooney's physical attributes.

The strikers they have in reserve, such as Bojan Krkic and Pedro, fit neatly into their intricate passing game, but arguably do not give them a reliable plan B.

Barcelona have a nucleus of homegrown players and a regular place in the team may not even be a given but the challenge would surely appeal to any player of Rooney's quality, even if he has never expressed much of an interest in playing abroad.

INTERNAZIONALE

European champions Internazionale are in need of a forward having looked threadbare upfront after selling Balotelli to Manchester City.

Rooney might fit their three-pronged attack as a central striker or more likely out wide given red-hot Samuel Eto'o and last year's treble hero Diego Milito are also at the San Siro.

Inter president Massimo Moratti has said he will probably buy in January but Rooney's name has never been mentioned and Moratti has his heart set on one day tempting Lionel Messi from Barcelona.

The other question would be whether the presence of Rafa Benitez, former coach of Liverpool, would appeal to Rooney, who came through at their neighbours Everton before moving to their arch-rivals United.

Reuters

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Rooney's 'treachery' laid bare by Ferguson: press

AFP - Thursday, October 21

LONDON (AFP) - – Manchester United star Wayne Rooney has been left looking like the villain of the piece and will be hated by the club's fans after the revelation that he wants to quit, Britain's press said Wednesday.

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson on Tuesday confirmed the 24-year-old striker wanted to leave Old Trafford, laying bare the full details of the saga in an extraordinary press conference that stunned commentators.

Ferguson's clear distress and feelings of betrayal dealt a heavy blow to Rooney's reputation as a superstar who put loyalty to his club above money, they said.

"Roo's let Utd down," said the Sun newspaper's headline, while the Mirror's simply read: "Betrayal."

"The Manchester United boss threw Wayne Rooney to the lions," said the Sun.

"By leaving the impression Rooney is a mercenary who will go wherever the big bucks are, he's buried a myth the striker has cultivated -- he'd play for United for nothing."

The Guardian added that Ferguson's speech "nailed several myths and cast Rooney as a mercenary with no regard for United's health."

Fans would already be incensed by Rooney's desire to leave Old Trafford -- and this would be made considerably worse by speculation that he could be snapped up by the club's cross-town rivals, said the press.

"Rooney will be villified by Reds fans, not just because he wants to quit Old Trafford but as he is prepared to consider a move to Manchester City," said the Sun.

Ferguson's performance itself -- at a press conference ahead of United's Champions League match with Turkish side Bursaspor Wednesday -- left many commentators open-mouthed.

His speech was "one of the most compelling pieces of football theatre that we have ever seen," said the Mirror, while the Daily Mail thought it "mesmerising."

There was much sympathy for Ferguson himself, who had said he was unable to provide an explanation for the player's desire to move after six successful years at the club.

"He spoke like a father who had been betrayed by his favourite son," said the Mirror.

"It was as if Roo had desecrated all that United stood for," it added.