Manchester United 'v' Celtic

Go to Glasgow, beat Celtic and qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League !! Easy !!! It's not easy though, not when you take into account the 12th man of Celtic. Their fanatical and passionate supporters. But Sir Alex is well aware the European champions will face a hostile reception at Celtic Park and he says they must deal with that and a likely attacking approach from the SPL giants.

Celtic managed a 1-0 home win over United in the competition two years ago and Ferguson knows that could boost Gordon Strachan's men ahead of the game.

"There is no question about how they are going to set out and the crowd will help them with that. We have to control that, Celtic will be chastened by the result last time; but obviously with their support they will be very, very determined, and that's one of the issues we will have to deal with. I thought we did that last time at Celtic Park, but then the lad scores a wonder goal." ..... Back To Home Page

Gordon Strachan: "United The Best Club Side In The World"

Gordon Strachan watched his Celtic side
get taken apart by Manchester United and
then declared United are better than ANY
international team and are probably the
best club side in the world. Dimitar Berbatov
grabbed a brace and Wayne Rooney was on
the score sheet, again, in a 3-0 win.

"That's the best side we've played," Strachan told
ITV "and we've played AC Milan, Juventus, Madrid,
all the top teams, and they are the best. Physically
we couldn't match them and that told the longer the
game went on. The first two goals were offside but
I'm not going to speak about them. I'm a football
man and I know when we're well beaten. They have
strength, experience, speed, skill, discipline, they
have it all." .....Back To Home Page

The Best Manchester United Ever ?

Speaking at a recent press conference Gordon Strachan agrees with what I have been saying for a year now, this is possibly the greatest Manchester United team to grace the field at Old Trafford !!

"We are playing the best team in Europe and some of the best players in the world. Is it a better team than Busby's ? Did they win 10 championships ? It is not for me to decide if this is the best Manchester United side of all time. That is for those who watch them more often. But Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic could look great no matter who we had up front. Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo are terrific - I have no new words to describe them. Their performances speak for themselves. But, believe me, it could be a lot worse. We are here now to face United and we are in the Champions League. We could have finished second in the title race and missed out on all this. Let's have a go at it. We will try to win this game - that is for sure. Whether we have the full set of weapons we had for Villarreal is another matter, with some big players injured." .....Back To Home Page

Sir Alex: "Strachan Will Stay At Celtic"

Sir Alex Ferguson has backed former Manchester United player Gordon Strachan to stay at Celtic unless an opportunity arises at one of the top English teams.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League tie, the Manchester United boss feels there would be little point in Strachan moving to a smaller club further down the Premiership.

“It's difficult to leave Celtic or Rangers because in a way they're guaranteed success. It's a two-horse race in Scotland and either one of them is going to win something every year, so it's difficult to leave.

“They're big clubs. They've got great supports so it's very difficult to leave, I think. In terms of worldwide support, very few clubs in England can reach that. In terms of ability and quality then obviously the top teams in England are ahead of Celtic and Rangers but unless, like Graeme Souness, he has the opportunity to go to one of the top clubs in England, why would he want to leave Celtic or Rangers ?" .....Back To Home Page