OH, AND YES, THERE'S A FOOTBALL MATCH

Last updated : 14 November 2004 By Editor
The Indie:

No surrender, no panic. As Manchester United supporters made defiant noises in one of Old Trafford's opulent suites on Friday about the prospect of being taken over by a quiet American, Sir Alex Ferguson was announcing a few miles away at the club's Carrington training ground that he is not yet ready to give in to equally predatory French and Portuguese rivals based in London.

Since the huge psychological boost of victory over Arsène Wenger's Arsenal three weeks ago, the pattern of United's work has changed to encouraging midweek cup performances followed by disappointment in the Premiership. That sequence needs to be broken this afternoon against Newcastle's Out-Of-Tune Army. The record may show only one defeat in 18 matches since losing on the opening day to Chelsea, but United's high proportion of draws means that Jose Mourinho's side have been disappearing into the distance, closely followed by Arsenal. The inability to break through Manchester City's road-block in a one-sided derby last Sunday, hard on the heels of an unfortunate loss at Portsmouth, adds up to United's worst start in any Premiership campaign

"I didn't say it was beyond us, I said it wasn't championship form last week [against City] and it wasn't. We need to concentrate on getting our game right and once we do, we'll win games, there's no doubt about that.

"All we need now is a little break. There was a 25-minute period where we had 85 per cent possession of the ball last week, which is phenomenal. I've never known a derby game with that kind of possession. They had one shot, and I think McManaman was playing for time, he put it right in the terracing. There were a lot of pluses: two shots cleared off the line, two clear penalties turned down. It was a good performance, but we do need to take those chances. That's the difference between championship form and where we are at the moment."