CLEVER BOY

Neil Custis, the Sun sports writer who wrote weeks ago that David Beckham was on his way out of Manchester United is feeling pretty smug today after the club accepted a huge offer from Barcelona for the England captain. So, in true tabloid style, Custis wasn't going to letan appearance on Radio 5 Live to discuss the transfer go by without having a pop at the paper's critics. The target of his ire was Peter Spencer of the Manchester Evening News, who has continually suggested that Beckham would stay. "You've had a guy called Peter Spencer on your show a number of times who's done nothing but lambast the tabloid papers and people like myself. He's swallowed the Man United line. This is proof positive that he is discredited and that other people who lambasted the tabloid press are discredited," he ranted in the aural equivalent of a Roy Keane tackle.