The vintage of January 2012 was going so well. The dust was settling on another pulsating clasico, there was a humdinger of a match between Federer and Nadal and we were still basking in the glow of our victory over Arsenal. Then we went to Anfield.

The behaviour of the Liverpool fans was predictably woeful and it is unsurprising that an arrest warrant has been issued for one of their supporters who used a racist gesture. It beggars belief that they remain unwilling to take responsibility for such appalling conduct. That is their business, I suppose.

There were also reports of Hillsborough chants coming out of the United section. I didn’t hear them but if that is the case then I apologise wholeheartedly on behalf of every true Manchester United fan. That is not something we either tolerate or condone.

It was a horrible game to lose, in a horrible way and there was very little for either club to be proud of in this fixture. United played the better football but the story of our season has been that we seem to lack ruthlessness, and it showed again.

Scholes is more than welcome back from retirement. His passing held us together for the first sixty minutes of the match, but he faded visibly after that. It was precisely at this time that Liverpool started to make inroads and Dalglish really trumped Fergie by getting his substitutions out first and more effectively.

We began to look very leggy towards the end of the match and you could sense that our good work up until that point was going to go to waste. Saying that, a replay at Old Trafford would have been unwelcome and I for one will be very happy to see the back of Liverpool after the league fixture in a couple of weeks. They can spend the rest of their season spreading their hatred and racism elsewhere.

So, a frustrating end to the month for United but there is nothing to do but dust ourselves down and face the next challenges with fortitude and lessons learnt. With Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool on the horizon there is never a dull moment. They are still our players, this is still our team and I am proud of them all.

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Before the game talk amongst the United faithful was focused on one topic and one topic only. Paul Scholes, no doubt responding to a embattled plea from the club, has stepped out of retirement to return to the playing staff for the rest of the season. This is a bit like Jesus rising from the dead to conduct a couple of sermons at the local church.

“If Henry can return to Arsenal, then why not?” Many of us thought. Within minutes both #paulscholes and #bobbycharlton were trending on twitter, presumably as everybody thought of the same joke. Nonetheless, seeing the name Scholes amongst the substitutes was confirmation that the coffers at Old Trafford really are bare. We won’t be buying any players this January.

At half time it looked like we wouldn’t be needing any new signings. Three goals up and a player sent off for City, it looked like we were about to extract revenge for the travesty at Old Trafford earlier in the season. That was to prove to be wishful thinking.

There were those that thought Kompany’s sending off was harsh. It was, certainly a surprise to see the red card. However, the fact is it was a two-footed challenge; the rules are very clear on this. It’s been a red card in this sport for the last 21 years and it was a red card today.

City have every right to feel that the referee perhaps did them a disservice but he evened things out when denying United a certain penalty late in the second half. By then United were holding on that is borderline embarrassing against a side playing with ten men.

There is still a great deal to cherish in this side though. Scholes played pretty reasonably I thought, Rooney was immense in places and Welbeck’s goal gets better every time I see it.

And Manchester United never die, despite the fact our backs were against the wall, despite the disgraceful articles in the Sunday papers prophesising our demise, the team have delivered a famous victory against the odds. Never, ever write us off.

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Blackburn ran around admirably and Yakuba proved that he remains a handful but in all honesty our lack of personnel won the game for them. Without any recognised centre halves or central midfielders in the line up it cannot be a surprise that we are conceding soft goals no matter whose birthday it is.

Celebrations appear unpopular around the manager at the moment if reports of Rooney’s fine appear to be true. It seems a little “bah humbug” even by the Glaswegian’s standards to fine people a week’s wages for going out for dinner on Boxing Day. However, there is always more than meets the eye in these situations and keeping an open mind is worthwhile.

In other news, Luis Suarez is guilty as hell. What at best seemed the unfortunate actions of Liverpool FC and they fans last weekend can now only be condemned. The 117-page document released by the FA irrefutably proves that Suarez is completely and heinously out of line. It must be intolerable for any sufferers of racial abuse to observe this behaviour in a professional sportsman.

A backlash against either Suarez or Liverpool FC at this point would be in poor taste. It would be far more productive to ensure that this type of behaviour is met with zero intolerance. The FA have gone to great lengths to investigate this thoroughly and they deserve credit for manner in which they have done so.

If only United had been as thorough when entering the transfer market last summer. That lack of midfield reinforcement is looking starker than ever this week. Whilst I have faith in the ability of the squad in the long-term when you put out the eleven that we did against Blackburn you need reinforcements. Nobody needs an FA investigation to prove that.

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Having said all that, the best give we have received was something we had all along, Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgar is the only player in the league who takes a leisurely sip of cognac before scoring a goal, he is pure class and I love seeing him play. He himself is not to blame for the poor 2011 he has endured. Simply he has been a victim of Hernandez’s excellence.

The Mexican fared less well at Old Trafford on Boxing Day but it mattered little as we racked up an aggregate score of 12-nil for a week’s work. Not bad for a side who were being written off about five minutes ago.

The way United field teams is quite imaginative at times. All season long we have been hearing about a lack of midfielders yet in this fixture we had one playing at centre half. What’s more we finished the match with five forwards on the field including one Wayne Rooney playing passes from the centre. 

Dimitar Berbatov

The more you look at it the more our dressing room looks like a collection of footballers rather than a collection of specialists. One might suggest that improves the team ethos around the place if everybody is ready to pitch in where necessary.

Wigan were horribly unlucky with the sending off. It can only be considered a harsh decision although I doubt it robbed them of a comprehensive victory they are entitled to feel aggrieved.

There are others in this league who are likely to feel distressed as this year draws to a close. There is an argument to say that City, having played brilliantly all season, deserve to be more than goal difference in front. Whatever.

Liverpool and Chelsea have also had a tough week of it. This concerns me greatly as there is now the distinct possibility that I might die laughing. My guess is that the impartial neutral would like to see Spurs finish top of the league and I would heartily agree they are an entertaining side.

This New Year though, United are still right there in it. Hope you are all enjoying your holidays.

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This would not be the first time a previously maligned player has made me eat a slice of humble pie. Carrick has got pretty short shrift from me over the years but it must be noted that he has been one of our better performers this season. In addition, Johnny Evans played very well in west London and one can only hope this proves to be a watershed moment for him.

There appears to be quite a lot of water passing under the bridge between Sir Alex and Roy Keane at the moment. I read both the manager’s programme notes last week and this Sunday’s interview in the Times. The whole situation is very disappointing.

Fergie has done unbelievable things for Manchester United, but he is not a perfect human being. Keano has done incredible things for Manchester United, but he is not a human being. It doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that they are rubbing each other up the wrong way.

However, I would far rather they weren’t bringing us fans into it. As a Manchester United supporter I do not want to be drawn into a ‘who do you love more’ debate about the two of them. If this situation was playing out in my personal life between two friends I would refuse to pick sides and probably give them both a wide berth until they calmed down. That’s just me though.

It’s good to see an in form Antonio Valencia in one of United’s wide berths at the moment. He plays well with Rooney and the early goal here was, I hope, part of an on-going partnership.

Alas, further back on the field Patrice Evra is starting to look every one of his 106 years. He has been a great player for us but now more than ever we need a fit Da Silva twin to step up to the plate.

Still, ‘Crisis Club Manchester United’ are doing alright at the moment. It is, as always, a busy Christmas period coming up. During the next month though our fixtures look a lot nicer than those of our main rivals. This weekend though, I am just delighted we didn’t lose any more players and put more points on the board. Who knows, things might even be looking up…

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It was horrible seeing Chicharito fall to the floor at the start of the game. Get well soon Javier, let’s hope the injury is not as bad as it looked. He is the guy who has been scoring the majority of our goals recently so it is particularly bad news. Wherever Rooney plays from now on he’d better have his scoring boots on.

United’s level of play cannot afford to drop any lower. Whilst this certainly hasn’t been a vintage week for the club, it is nice to collect another three Premier League points and another clean sheet. We are however, hugely indebted to how lousy Aston Villa were.

Despite Fergie’s protestations prior to the match, if I were a Villa fan right now I would be seriously unhappy. They were abject and clueless in a home game against opposition who had just lost to a lower league club. Aston Villa are the fifth most successful club in the history of this country. They should have had a go and didn’t.

United were little better and instead of winning by the healthy margin all of our main rivals posted at the weekend we stuttered over the line. The club are still on course for 90 points this season but I am a football fan not a mathematician. The games are simply a little turgid to watch right now. There is zero chance of my support and faith in the club or the manager wavering but the glum observation remains the same.

We have had it very good for a long time as United fans yet, if there is one regret I have from the last 20 years, it is that I was too nice to the City fans I know. At the moment they are being intolerably smug. Their fixtures over the next eight weeks do look pretty gruesome though, so perhaps some points will get dropped somewhere.

In the meantime of course, we face the citizens in the FA Cup third round. This is the kind of draw that can only focus the attention. Off the top of my head I can’t remember when United last went out of the cup at the first hurdle. It definitely doesn’t happen often and I definitely don’t want it to happen this year.

Another thing it would be nice to avoid is crashing out of Europe early and in ignominy. Our performance at St. Jacok Park against Basle this Wednesday will decide the outcome of our fate on the continent in this year’s Champion’s League group stage. The Swiss are surely going to be a sterner test than Villa and if we don’t buck our ideas up we’ll be humiliated. Sorry to be glum, but right now, our performances give me few other emotions to display.

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Our rather schizophrenic football club has assumed one of its more flippant guises this past week. It has been a welcome return to see a swaggering United side pushing forward in search of goals and glory. It seems a shame that we can’t marry that style with the habit of keeping clean sheets that has been prevalent over the past month.

However, I don’t think these things will be mutually exclusive forever. As mentioned in previous posts, this is a young team, which is also dealing with a bit of an injury crisis. As far as I am concerned things are just fine. In the medium and long term view Manchester United are doing exactly the right thing. In the short term, we are second in the league to the most expensive team in history and we have just dropped two points on the back of a borderline penalty decision. These things happen.

On the plus side, Javier Hernandez is in the form of his life at the moment. It was revealing to read a recent interview in which he said he considered packing it all in before he signed for United. Thank goodness he didn’t, at the moment he is holding our season together. Incidentally, he deserves great credit for reuniting United fans with the Sombrero. 

Maradona good, Pele better, George Best.
This week saw the sixth anniversary of George Best’s passing. It seemed fitting that it should coincide with the side returning to the kind of play the Northern Irishman’s side made the norm in the sixties.

Fergie was in a predictably excellent mood about the penalty call. “A travesty”, he said, “I don’t think anyone in the ground apart from the assistant thought it was a penalty”. One wonders if the changing room for match officials at Old Trafford is bulletproof. I certainly hope so.

It seems slightly inappropriate to whinge on about the men in black in the same week that German referee Babak Rafati has revealed his struggle with depression. It is possible though, to look at this situation without making angry football managers the bogeymen.

It is equally true to say that managers are under unbearable pressure and will likely react when they see perceived injustice. It is a long road, but one day depression will be viewed by society as something we all need to be mindful of, like asthma. At the moment, the structure of the sport is such, that multi-million pound decisions are being made at the blow of a whistle.

There can be no stronger argument for the introduction of video technology than that it would reduce the pressure on individual human beings. It would also be fairer, and United would be two points better off this season. It must be said of course, few will have sympathy with United for not getting a penalty appeal for a change. What goes around, I guess…

Nonetheless, even if the results haven’t gone our way this week I have seen my club go for it in two games and not get the rub of the green. That will change and the important thing is that the philosophy of attack, attack, attack stays the same. Our erratic luck will shift soon enough and in the meantime, we have plenty of blessings to count.

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It won’t be much of a surprise to hear that people who spend the majority of their time watching football matches have often had somewhat misspent youths. During my teen years, when not filling Pannini sticker albums or shuffling along crowded streets towards stadiums United were due to play in, I could be found shooting pool or snooker to a reasonable standard. Never in my life have I met a nation of people who can beat me so consistently at the game of pool as the Welsh. Before this weekend, United had never won in Swansea either. It was time to put those things right.

Ryan Giggs, our Welsh representative, put his countrymen to the sword with the kind of simple tee-up that makes the game of football look easy. That is the second assist Giggs has in just six games this season, I am not sure he has even broken a serious sweat yet. He may be aging, but he is still class.

As is Javier Hernandez, whose finish proved the difference for us again as we slowly morph into “one-nil for the United”. Frankly, the fact that we are putting together results in any fashion whatsoever is a massive achievement. In much the same way that Arsenal have quietly rehabilitated themselves after their tonking at Old Trafford, United have been stacking up the points modestly and efficiently.

City, however, remain a menace. They are clearly both the stand-out squad in the division and the form team too. They have also just posted an operating loss larger than any recorded before in the history of English football. Doing such things is not an option for either United or the Gunners.

Instead of looking at the results City are posting, or the salary packets of their players, Fergie is doing what he can do and what he should do. He is improving our team’s lot week by week and making steady improvements. As he himself said in the post match interview, five clean sheets on the trot is not bad for a team who were being criticised for being too open at the back some short weeks ago.

The attacking side who stormed into the opening weeks of the campaign is still there and will emerge again when the time is right. In the meantime, steel and guile are being added to the attributes of this young squad.

United are marching on at the moment. Once again, we have our exceptional manager to thank for steering this club through another delicate patch. I have a sneaking suspicion that United will start moving up through the gears now. With games against Benfica and Newcastle up next, we will need to.
Now, who’s for a game of pool?

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Although many will think we should also have a Sir Matt Busby stand no one can begrudge the appropriateness of the club’s gesture to Sir Alex. It is also important to note that we have named the street that leads to the ground ‘Sir Matt Busby way’

It remains to be seen whether the erection of the statue will prove more tribute than distraction. My personal feeling is that it is wholly correct a statue of Fergie should be outside of Old Trafford. Whilst he is still in the job of manager might be too soon though.

Nonetheless, at this stage of the season it is notoriously tricky to see how the rest of the campaign will pan out. Here is a selection Fergie anniversaries from the great man’s 25 year tenure to chew over.

November 1986
United travel to League Cup winners Oxford and are beaten 2-0 at the Manor Ground, easily one of the countries worst stadiums. My dad was in attendance and remembers it being an unremarkably glum match.

End of the season:
United finish in 11th place, 30 points behind champions Everton. Although our home form is impressive, 13 victories, it is not enough to trouble the top of the table.

November 1991
Fergie’s fifth anniversary at Old Trafford was a bittersweet experience. Six months before he had brought home the club’s first European trophy since the sixties, winning the European Cup Winners Cup final against Barcelona. November 6th 1991 saw us bow out of the competition for the last ever time after a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford against Athletico Madrid who won 3-0 in the first leg.

End of the season:
The season’s end bore witness to a spectacular Manchester United collapse. Favourites until the start of April, United slipped behind Leeds after playing four fixtures in eight days. The team from Yorkshire finished four points above us in first, but it was still our most successful season for 25 years.

November 1996
Having proven the previous summer that you could win things with kids, a double in fact, United kept the ball rolling as the new season got underway. A one nil victory over Arsenal was the first result Fergie recorded after 10 years at the club.

End of the season:
This time United were league champions ahead of Newcastle United for the second season running. This time, however, it was far less spectacular and United won out by seven points in the end. By this stage, winning titles was expected at United, the ground capacity had increased and the club was almost unrecognisable to the one Ferguson had inherited 10 years before.

November 2001
After dreadful losses to Arsenal and Liverpool United picked themselves up again with a 2-0 victory over Leicester in the league. Goals from Van Nistelrooy and Yorke were enough but alas, Arsenal were to beat us again before 2001 was out.

End of the season:
In a season muddled by Ferguson’s retirement u-turn at Christmas the side underperformed hugely finishing third in the league behind Arsenal and Liverpool. Interestingly, United’s form in the second half of the season (after Fergie changed his mind) was much improved on the first half of the campaign.

November 2006
November 2006 was far from a vintage month for the Glasweigian. United lost his anniversary match to Southend in the League Cup and were beaten by Celtic, managed by United old boy Gordon Strachan, in the Champion’s League group stages.

End of the season:
This was, however, the season when Cristiano Ronaldo evolved from pretender to contender. His goals over Christmas and form towards the end of the campaign were sensational and saw United crowned league champions for the first time in four years.

November 2011
Although United are on a run of four successive victories with four clean sheets there is a certain trepidation around the place. Despite starting the season in blistering form playing with young players the recent mauling by Manchester City has everybody on edge.

End of the season:
Good question…

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