Portsmouth and Watford

Rooney grabbed a couple of goals in the win against Portsmouth on the weekend.

Man Utd have drawn Reading at Old Trafford in the next round of the FA Cup.

United also has a midweek game against Watford coming up, no TV coverage I can see.

FA Cup on d weekend

Manchester United play Portsmouth in the FA Cup on Sunday morning, no TV coverage that I can see. Some commentators would like to see the 2nd eleven out there, but surely Fergie wouldn't do that, this late in the tournament.

Mo' money

Seems like the Premiership teams are going to get way richer, with not much for the long suffering fan.

Disaster

Manchester United left London again with their tail between their legs after losing to Arsenal this morning and West Ham last month.

Off to London

Manchester United play Arsenal on Monday morning, kick off 4.55 am. On the digital only, looks like Sky Sport 2.

A Slap in the Face

At tonights Manchester United New Zealand SUPPORTERS Club meeting, we discussed a disturbing letter sent from some prat in Uniteds homebase. Basically they are threatening us with expulsion if we don't send them more money. The breakdown is they have sent threatening letters to all the Supporters Clubs insisting that 50 members of our club become ONE UNITED members or they will withdraw our official status.
As you can guess, this went down like a lead balloon and caused deep resentment among most of the attendees. As the Chairman said, this could just the thin edge, imagine next year they say we need 75 !!!!!

The general opinion of the large group gathered at Speakers Corner was, as we had survived quite well before we became OFFICIAL then we will carry on regardless, but we will be expressing our concerns most loudly to all in charge at United in regards to this blackmail. MORE TO COME 4 SURE.

Among the fans tonight were Nigel and his dad, new Mark and Woodys friend Allan, who was Martin Edwards boss at one time. Good to see some fresh faces mixed in with the usual suspects.

In other news we have decided to have a general club meeting to watch one of the upcoming Man United games, just to get back to the social side of watching the game instead of at home on the couch. Also a BBQ BEER FOOTY game to introduce the new Sunday football season will be held in mid February and another Car Rally has been planned for late March.

Feel free to leave comments below, on the United Plan or any other matters you think we need to bring up.

Man Utd NZ Supporters Club Meeting

The Manchester United FC Supporters Club of NZ meeting will be on this Wednesday (Jan 17th) at the Speakers Corner in Browns Bay. Kick off will be about 7.30 pm.
So come on down and have an ale or two and shoot the breeze with some keen United fans. Great food and some fine British draughts.

ALL WELCOME

The double over Villa

Manchester United continued their twelve year unbeaten run over a lacklustre Aston Villa this morning.

Becks off to the States

Well, Posh and the circus have finally got their way and Uniteds greatest player in the last 30 years has moved stateside.

Steve and I watched Becks in a interview a couple of years ago and the overwhelming feeling was that he would have come back to Man Utd in a heartbeat, if Fergie had gone.

Villa on Sunday

Manchester United play Aston Villa this weekend. Game is on Sunday morning, nothing advertised on digital.

Ole to the rescue, again.

OLE Gunnar Solskjaer stepped off the bench to propel Manchester United into the fourth round of the FA Cup. The Norwegian striker has a habit of scoring crucial goals and this third-round match was no exception. He scored the winner in stoppage time, the striker's effort squirming under the body of goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly.

With Henrik Larsson marking his debut for United by finding his scoring touch, it was a good day for manager Sir Alex Ferguson. However Villa looked to have secured a replay when substitute Milan Baros equalised but Solskjaer had the last word. Larsson was quickly in the action and delivered a good ball into the area after two minutes that was headed clear by Liam Ridgewell. Rooney should have made the breakthrough in the 21st minute but sent a weak effort into Kiraly's arms after being set up by Larsson.

United started the second half brightly and Brown should have at least tested Kiraly in the 47th minute. The central defender got on the end of a cross from Rooney but headed over the top from inside the six-yard box. Ronaldo then raced forward after being released by Giggs in the 52nd minute but pulled his 20-yard effort wide of the target.

Larsson marked his debut and announced his arrival at Old Trafford by making the breakthrough in the 55th minute. He showed good composure after being picked out by Rooney in the area to rattle a shot beyond Kiraly. It could have been worse for Villa three minutes later had a delightful free-kick from Giggs not come back off the bar. Hughes then headed clear a goal-bound chip from Giggs and Ronaldo found the side-netting from an acute angle. Villa drew level in the 74th minute through substitute Milan Baros and the goal stunned United's supporters. The Czech Republic striker took advantage of some slack marking to score from close range.

Larsson was rightly given a rousing reception in the 78th minute when he was replaced by Solskjaer. Rooney almost regained the lead for United in the 85th minute only to drag his effort wide. But then up stepped Solskjaer to score the winner for United in stoppage time after a mistake by Kiraly, who allowed the Norwegian's shot to squirm under his body.

Manchester United 2 - Aston Villa 1

FA Cup weekend

Manchester United play Aston Villa in the 3rd round of the FA Cup this weekend.

Kickoff is 2.55 am Monday morning on the digital.

Mourning in Newcastle

Not really, but the lads will have to reflect on a number of wasted chances against a spirited Newcastle team.

Ronaldo dances with the Gods

For the third time in just over a week, Ronaldo has been the guiding light in another United win, a birthday present for the gaffer.

CRISTIANO Ronaldo is already one of the world's best players - and the bad news for Premiership defenders is that he is going to get better.

That's the verdict of Sir Alex Ferguson, who had no hesitation in bracketing his precocious 21-year-old Portuguese star with the likes of Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o. Reds' boss Ferguson, who turns 65 tomorrow, stopped short of the assessment handed out by today's opposition manager Steve Coppell, who described Ronaldo as the best player on the planet at the moment.

Sir Alex still feels he has some way to go to deserve that accolade. Fergie said: "He is certainly in the bracket of best players in the world, I am certain of that. And he is 21, and will get better. He is showing the maturity, and realisation of potential, that you hope all young players will start to show as they get older."
As the tributes are showered on Ronaldo - already a front-runner to pick up Player of the Year awards - Ferguson reflected on the character and talent of a player who some felt would not play in this country again after his brush with team-mate Rooney during the World Cup. "We have good experience of that situation because David Beckham went through the same thing - and he survived," says the manager.

"Once you get playing, the most important thing is to play well and Cristiano has done that".

Ferguson has made it plain that striker Giuseppe Rossi will remain at Old Trafford as he aims to bolster his squad for the final title push, along with Alan Smith and Chinese youngster Dong Fangzhuo.

Teenaged centre-half Jonny Evans, returning from a loan spell at Royal Antwerp, will head off to Sunderland for the rest of this season, and right-back Phil Bardsley - back from an unhappy spell at Rangers - is still deciding whether to join him.