Pav Is Out To Wreck United's Quadruple

Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko is declaring he is ready to prove himself in the Carling Cup final against Manchester United, after Spurs surrendered a 4-1 lead to Burnley in the semi-final.

The north London misfits almost surrendered a first leg advantage of 4-1 to Championship side Burnley when going 3-0 down in the second leg of the final four, but managed to escape by the skin of their teeth with two late goals and secure their passage to the final.

Pavlyucehnko scored the first of those efforts late in extra time but despite his efforts does not want any credit, as he feels the ultimate stage on which to garner such praise is at Wembley.

“No I'm not a hero, the job is only half done, there is one more step left. We still have a month, I think, to prepare seriously for the final. Hardly anyone would argue that this is not one of the strongest teams, not only in England but in Europe. Therefore it will not be easy.”

Fighting talk from the Russian hit man but I feel this will be United Carling Cup for only the thrid time in their history and Pavlyuchenko will be left red faced.....Back To Home Page...

Manchester United Missed The Chance To Ease Fixture Pile Up

It is very rare indeed that Fergie will miss a trick but he has missed a big one with regard to this weekends FA Cup tie with Tottenham. If there is a draw between the teams there will be a replay and with United crippling injury list that is just what the doctor DIDN'T order. But if they looked at the rule book a little closer they could have saved themselves a big headache.

A little-known FA law states that clubs can agree between themselves to play 30 minutes of extra time at the end of the original tie in a bid to avoid having to play the match again.

With United manager Alex Ferguson facing a crippling injury crisis as his side chase trophies on FOUR fronts at home and in Europe the last thing he needs is a replay in London squeezed into an already packed schedule, especially with the Champions League about to resume.

Likewise, Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, whose side will face United in the League Cup final, has vowed to field a "mish-mash" side for a match he described as secondary to their relegation six-pointer against Stoke City next week.

A quick glance at FA Cup Rule 12b may have spared both men the inconvenience of an unwanted extra fixture but Ferguson appeared unaware on Friday when he read out a long list of players unavailable for Saturday's tie.

The rule states that extra time can be played at the end of match if both clubs agree in writing within seven days of the draw being made and the referee is notified before kickoff.

In normal circumstances there is only extra time at the end of a replay with penalties to follow if it is still level.

"Someone has informed me that I could apply to The FA to have extra time tomorrow," Ferguson told reporters. This has come out this morning, I've never heard of this in my life.

"It's in the articles of The Association that both teams can apply to have the game decided tomorrow and notify the referee before the game.

"I'm going to speak to David Gill and ask him first of all if this is actually correct. I've never heard of it. The criticism would be that we're not adhering to the principles of the FA Cup or the spirit of it -- but why have The FA got it in there?"

An FA spokesman said on Friday that the rule has not been invoked from the first round proper onwards for at least 50 years but is sometimes used in preliminary rounds to spare amateur clubs huge travel costs.....Back To Home Page...

Dimitar Berbatov More Than Happy At Manchester United

Dimitar Berbatov has told MUTV that he is loving life at Manchester United as they continue their fight for silverware on four fronts.

Sir Alex Ferguson Ferguson smashed the United club record by spending £30.75million on the Bulgarian in the last seconds of transfer deadline day.

Despite some initial doubts among United fans, some of which still linger, Berbatov is clearly a class act, with Ferguson believing he can inject the magic touch that can see his side become back-to-back-to back Premier League title winners or the first club to record successive Champions League triumphs.

Berbatov has a clear vision of what he wants too.

"People talk about the north and the south but I don't make comparisons like that, I am just interested in my football," he told MUTV. People says it is not sunny here and it rains all the time but that doesn't bother me. I like it the way it is. In fact, I like it better here. I am not a guy who looks for places with a lot of people and traffic. London was crazy anyway, so I used to live out of town. Here it is more peaceful. But the city is secondary to the team I play for. Now I play for the biggest team in the world, so it doesn't matter where I live."

Berbatov appears to have got used to his new team-mates already. The former Tottenham star does not appear to be a particularly gregarious character and, ahead of Sunday's vital Premier League encounter with Chelsea at Old Trafford, the 27-year-old confirmed that while he likes a joke, when the time for training starts, it is a serious business.

"I come into work and enjoy training, then I go home but I just want to go to bed and then start training again, I enjoy sharing jokes. But when we work it is serious. We have very important games ahead of us and we need to prepare for them."

Despite overtures from Manchester City, who tried to hijack Berbatov's move to the north-west with an 11th-hour offer of their own, the striker never entertained the prospect of joining the cash-rich Eastlands outfit. There was only one move he wanted to make. And he couldn't be more delighted with the way it has worked out.

"I am very happy and things are going well, my dream was to come here, now I can see how the biggest stars are working and I can compare and measure myself against the best.".....Back To Home Page...

Sir Alex Stressed About His Injury List Ahead Of Spurs Game

Sir Fergie has announced he is not a happy chappy with regard to injuries etc etc in the days before Manchester United's trip to White Hart Lane. Their last Premier League game before jetting off to Tokyo for the World Club Championship.

He was seen to be shuffling his team around for the midweek draw with Aalborg on account of injuries and just to add insult to injury, Rio Ferdinand suffered a setback. Former Tottenham stars Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov are doubts too for the game. However, Sir Alex is hopeful he has the squad to contend with the issues.

Speaking to Setanta Sports News Sir Alex said: "Berbatov is still a problem, Michael Carrick has a thigh injury and we are hoping he will be alright, that’s why I wasn’t prepared to risk Fletcher tonight. The plan was always to play Ryan for 45 minutes because I don’t know what my midfield options are going to be on Saturday. I brought Scholes on at half-time to give him 45, I don’t think he is ready to play 90 minutes at the moment. I had these issues about the midfield area as I don’t know if Carrick is going to be fit, I don’t know if Berbatov is going to be fit. Rio Ferdinand picked up a back spasm again, so that is a concern for us too. With the squad we’ve got I hope we can cope but I’d rather not have them.”.....Back To Home Page...