Manchester United news and links

Chelsea overtake Liverpool after a dramatic late victory over Wigan.

THE Rebels lost winger Jerome Wright to a red card, and manager Karl Marginson, banished to the stand, in a stormy finish to their UniBond League premier division clash at Gigg Lane.


Wright was dismissed after a scuffle with a Buxton player, and the FC bench reacted angrily, leading to Marginson’s dismissal by the ref.

THE Rebels lost winger Jerome Wright to a red card, and manager Karl Marginson, banished to the stand, in a stormy finish to their UniBond League premier division clash at Gigg Lane.


Wright was dismissed after a scuffle with a Buxton player, and the FC bench reacted angrily, leading to Marginson’s dismissal by the ref.

THE Rebels lost winger Jerome Wright to a red card, and manager Karl Marginson, banished to the stand, in a stormy finish to their UniBond League premier division clash at Gigg Lane.


Wright was dismissed after a scuffle with a Buxton player, and the FC bench reacted angrily, leading to Marginson’s dismissal by the ref.

THE Rebels lost winger Jerome Wright to a red card, and manager Karl Marginson, banished to the stand, in a stormy finish to their UniBond League premier division clash at Gigg Lane.


Wright was dismissed after a scuffle with a Buxton player, and the FC bench reacted angrily, leading to Marginson’s dismissal by the ref.

JOHN O’Shea is expecting a much tougher Carling Cup battle against Tottenham than many are predicting.


Manchester United will start as clear favourites for the first domestic cup final of the season tomorrow, with Tottenham still languishing near the Barclays Premier League’s drop zone and lacking a number of key men, including cup-tied captain Robbie Keane.

JOHN O’Shea is expecting a much tougher Carling Cup battle against Tottenham than many are predicting.


Manchester United will start as clear favourites for the first domestic cup final of the season tomorrow, with Tottenham still languishing near the Barclays Premier League’s drop zone and lacking a number of key men, including cup-tied captain Robbie Keane.

JOHN O’Shea is expecting a much tougher Carling Cup battle against Tottenham than many are predicting.


Manchester United will start as clear favourites for the first domestic cup final of the season tomorrow, with Tottenham still languishing near the Barclays Premier League’s drop zone and lacking a number of key men, including cup-tied captain Robbie Keane.

JOHN O’Shea is expecting a much tougher Carling Cup battle against Tottenham than many are predicting.


Manchester United will start as clear favourites for the first domestic cup final of the season tomorrow, with Tottenham still languishing near the Barclays Premier League’s drop zone and lacking a number of key men, including cup-tied captain Robbie Keane.

SIR Alex Ferguson could hardly have looked more relaxed with a glass of his favourite claret in hand.


Looking ahead to tomorrow’s Carling Cup final against Tottenham - an occasion he readily admits he never expected to be part of - his mellow exterior was betrayed only once.

SIR Alex Ferguson could hardly have looked more relaxed with a glass of his favourite claret in hand.


Looking ahead to tomorrow’s Carling Cup final against Tottenham - an occasion he readily admits he never expected to be part of - his mellow exterior was betrayed only once.

TOMORROW’S Carling Cup final is a meeting of two of the game’s greatest minds.


But Sir Alex Ferguson will be wary of the man standing in his way of an unprecedented quintuple - United’s cup nemesis Harry Redknapp.

TOMORROW’S Carling Cup final is a meeting of two of the game’s greatest minds.


But Sir Alex Ferguson will be wary of the man standing in his way of an unprecedented quintuple - United’s cup nemesis Harry Redknapp.

TOMORROW’S Carling Cup final is a meeting of two of the game’s greatest minds.


But Sir Alex Ferguson will be wary of the man standing in his way of an unprecedented quintuple - United’s cup nemesis Harry Redknapp.

TOMORROW’S Carling Cup final is a meeting of two of the game’s greatest minds.


But Sir Alex Ferguson will be wary of the man standing in his way of an unprecedented quintuple - United’s cup nemesis Harry Redknapp.

DARRON Gibson is a member of an exclusive group - he has been the given a guarantee of a place in a final by Sir Alex Ferguson.


The United boss isn’t prone to handing out cast-iron assurances in advance for big showpiece occasions.

DARRON Gibson is a member of an exclusive group - he has been the given a guarantee of a place in a final by Sir Alex Ferguson.


The United boss isn’t prone to handing out cast-iron assurances in advance for big showpiece occasions.

DARRON Gibson is a member of an exclusive group - he has been the given a guarantee of a place in a final by Sir Alex Ferguson.


The United boss isn’t prone to handing out cast-iron assurances in advance for big showpiece occasions.

DARRON Gibson is a member of an exclusive group - he has been the given a guarantee of a place in a final by Sir Alex Ferguson.


The United boss isn’t prone to handing out cast-iron assurances in advance for big showpiece occasions.

• Ferguson pioneered youth policy 15 years ago
• Gibson and Welbeck to start in Sunday’s final

It all began at Port Vale on a September’s evening in 1994. Manchester United were the illustrious opponents in the first round of the League Cup and Alex Ferguson had decided to play “the kids”. They won 2-1, with two goals from a pimply 19-year-old by the name of Paul Scholes, but the headlines the next day were all about Ferguson’s disregard for the competition.

“I always remember the local MP complaining about it in the House of Commons,” Ferguson recalls. “He said the Potteries public were being denied the chance to see great players. He didn’t realise they were being given the privilege of seeing even greater players. The young ones I used that night were David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Nicky Butt.”

The storm blew over and over the years, United have begun to look like trendsetters as other Premier League clubs have fallen in line and developed their own policies for the League Cup. You could argue that it has devalued the old trophy, but Ferguson will not be moved.

His team for tomorrow’s final against Tottenham Hotspur will be unapologetically young and experimental, with Darron Gibson in midfield and Danny Welbeck playing in attack. “The young players have got us to Wembley and they deserve the chance to finish the job,” Ferguson explains.

“Don’t get me wrong, we want to win it and you can be sure the bench will be laced with experience in case we need it. But we’re very impressed by the likes of Gibson and Welbeck. They’ve come on a ton for us. They’ve earned the right to be considered first-team players. We’ve seen they have the temperament to do it.

“Yes, you could say they aren’t regulars, but I could also tell you there are 16 or 17 other teams in this league who would happily have them. They deserve to play.”

The emphasis, according to Ferguson, is to reward the players who have helped United overcome Middlesbrough, Queens Park Rangers, Blackburn Rovers and Derby County in the previous rounds, although it will not be the most inexperienced team he has ever put out.

He is reluctant, for example, to partner Gibson with Rodrigo Possebon, meaning Scholes or Michael Carrick will probably play in central midfield. Carlos Tevez has been a regular in this competition and Nemanja Vidic could also be involved. Gary Neville should be fit enough to return to a defence that is missing Rafael da Silva, who has a hairline fracture in his ankle and will be out for a month.

Ferguson, however, will make seven or more changes from the side that outpassed Internazionale in the San Siro on Tuesday night.

“If people are looking for a reason why you have lost, that will be the one. But rotation is part of the modern game. It’s got to be. If I could sit down with the supporters and explain the number of miles the players are running in every match, the intensity they’re running, the speed they’re running, the number of times they have to sprint, they [the supporters] would maybe realise how difficult it is.”

Ferguson was riled when it was pointed out to him that Manchester City seemed to have a greater number of young English players coming through their academy system.

“That depends on the quality you’re talking about,” he responded testily. But he did admit that he had not expected his youthful team to make it this far in the competition.

“It’s a bonus, really. We hadn’t planned to be in the final when we put in the young players. We thought, ‘Yeah, get a run, get to the quarter-final, semi-final, whatever, see what they’re made of’. But they have progressed well.”

If that sounds like United have stopped treating the competition with the utmost seriousness, it is probably a fair assessment, but it is the 25th major final of Ferguson’s career and by now, he knows that it is impossible to enjoy taking a team to Wembley if you lose.

“You like to come away with good memories and the best memories you can have are by winning.”

The televion cookery show could provide some clues as to how to make coverage of the Carling Cup a little more tasty

Voiceover: “It’s the final of the Carling Cup, the culmination of a six-month search. These teams are the best in the country, but only one can be crowned Carling Cup champion.”

John Torode: “This is one tough competition. Whoever wins, it will change their lives!”

Gregg Walace: “John, football does NOT get any TOUGHER than this!”

Voiceover: “In the semi-finals, Manchester United wowed the judges while comeback contestant Tottenham produced something truly remarkable to overcome Burnley - but can they prove just as hard to beat today?”

Jonathan Woodgate: “I really do feel close to the title, absolutely. I can’t believe I’m here. Now I simply have to win. I’d be gutted if I lost now. Gutted.”

JT: “Two finalists, an amazing journey, and it all culminates in this final challenge. Most professionals would KILL to get an opportunity like this.”

GW: “But can they grasp it WITH BOTH HANDS? We want guts! We want balance! We want technique!”

JT: “Gregg, let’s cook!”

GW “Er, it’s football today John.”

Come on, it makes sense, doesn’t it? If the brutal ubiquity of sport could be allied to the popular force of Masterchef, the result would be a blizzard of such power it would be unlike anything to have hit Britain for, quite literally, a couple of weeks.

But it’s not such a bizarre idea: like the Carling Cup, Masterchef started ages ago when a lot of not particularly talented people turned up more in hope than expectation. Since then the competitors have faced challenges of increasing difficulty and complexity (except for Tottenham, who started with Newcastle and Liverpool then got to play Watford and Burnley). If anyone could combine this week’s two high-profile televised finals the result would be, well, spectacularly confusing, but also potentially great.

I’m not suggesting we change the game itself, only its presentation. Do Gregg Walace and John Torode not have something of the Richard Keys and Andy Gray about them, only with some extra testosterone and the volume turned up to 11 - one has hair, the other doesn’t, one probably knows what he’s talking about, the other just looks happy to be there. Best of all, their unique commentary style could be applied to almost anything.

JT: Full-time and it’s 1-0. Gregg, what did you make of the goal?

GW: First you get the lovely, controlled clearance, then you’re hit by the rampaging run down the left wing, THEN that sublime chipped pass and ON TOP OF ALL THAT the cool, crisp finish. John, that’s heaven in a glass!”

Voiceover: “In previous rounds, Cristiano’s combination of pace and trickery caught the eye. Would anyone be able to stop him today?”

GW: “John, tackles do NOT get any TOUGHER than THAT!”

Really, the only difference between the competitions lies in those who take part. Gregg and John might struggle with people who are more obsessed with souped-up Bentleys than soups and blinis, but they could just shout at each other for a while and everything would be fine. Theirs is one recipe that works every time.

Spurs fans shouldn’t bother watching their team dismantled by United’s kids. If that sounds bitter, yes, it is because I’m jealous

It’s the Carling Cup final, a competition as weak as the lager it promotes. A tournament so insignificant that Tottenham are able to muster up enough consecutive victories to reach its climax. My mate Mick supports the “Mighty Spurs” and will be going with his son Yiodis (they’re Greek and Mick’s full name actually has enough syllables to fill this page) to see Spurs take on Manchester United. Will it become a cherished memory of a Wembley upset? Or a day where they share in defeat and console each other that it was “a lovely day out”.

I reject the “lovely day out” philosophy; failure pains me. I don’t enjoy watching West Ham lose, I’d rather not go. On days where I’ve debated attendance then declined I feel strangely comforted when I learn that we lost. “Good,” I think, “I saved myself the aggravation.”

Witness, for example, the fans who travelled to the Riverside this week to see West Ham capitulate before Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fifth round, I would’ve resented that if I’d been there.

If I’d been stood in that cold midweek monument to the decline of England’s premier domestic Cup, watching the one remaining narrative thread of our season being jizzed out like grey sperm into the drab hankie of the fifth round I wouldn’t turn to my companion and say “well, that was a lovely day out”. I’d probably weep, or worse, begin the introspective dig through the flaccid tendrils of wasted hope which must be discarded to cope with yet another loss.

Dismantling dreams in the face of the corporeal is an exercise in bereavement. The realities we envisage but do not live leave tearful traces in our memory of what never was. Frankly I regret watching it on the telly, it was obvious we would lose.

Boro typically do well in cup competitions and in spite of a Hammers victory against them in the 2006 semi-final I intuitively knew that we’d be knocked out on Wednesday. Well not intuitively, rationally because I’d already made tentative plans to watch the quarter-final tie against Everton should West Ham triumph.

I’ve got a couple of friends who follow the Toffees and I allowed myself to indulge in the reckless fantasy of speculating beyond the game in hand.

Any manager will tell you that’s foolish. “We’re taking it one game at a time,” they say - and they don’t mean the next game but one, they mean the game directly in front of them.

You’ll never hear a manager’s adrenalised pontifications on what the future holds, well not now Kevin Keegan’s resigned. By contemplating a trip to Goodison Park I was not only counting my chickens before my eggs had hatched, I was naming the chickens and signing them up for university.

Well now those eggs will never hatch, they’re barren, brittle ova of nothing. In fact, worse than that, they’re them eggs where there’s a spot of blood in the yoke. Yuk! A tiny scarlet speck of unfulfilled potential.

How can Spurs fans be excited about winning the warm wee-wee trophy? They won it last year and look at subsequent events: boomerang transfers, sackings and disillusionment. They should refuse to attend or just send mascots, that’s what United will do; field a team of children and cuddly twerps in foam suits and they’ll still stuff the cockerels of north London. Mick and Yiodis are countenancing a day where their side is laid waste by toddlers and cartoon red devils and paying good money for the privilege.

I suppose all this sounds rather splenetic. Well yes, that’s because I do feel a bit jealous and the more I decry it the more a shot at a trophy, any trophy, sounds inspiring. Perhaps we should invent something that West Ham can win: “most rapidly balding manger” for Gianfranco Zola, who is vehemently adhering to the cliche of the stress-ridden gaffer by ageing a generation in three months like some half-arsed, lottery-funded parody of Benjamin Button.

Yes, a trophy of that nature may seem hollow and, to a point, in bad taste, but at least it would be a victory, something to cling to, a marker of the passing days and our inevitable, unremarkable trudge towards the grave. Not to mention “a lovely day out”.

• ‘It would be wrong not to dream about this,’ says Russian
• Striker also criticises his predecessor Dimitar Berbatov

The Tottenham Hotspur striker Roman Pavlyuchenko has added extra spice to Sunday’s Carling Cup final by expressing his desire to move to Old Trafford and also by describing Manchester United’s Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov as “arrogant”.

The Russia international, who will be in the Tottenham side to face United at Wembley on Sunday, has been at White Hart Lane for only six months since his £13.9m transfer from Spartak Moscow.

However, the 27-year-old told the Moscow-based Gazeta newspaper that he is already thinking of moving on, and that Old Trafford would be his preferred destination.

“It would be wrong not to dream about this,” Pavlyuchenko is quoted as saying. “I have realised that the English Premier League is exactly why you should start playing football in the first place. And Manchester United is the leader of it. Once your first dream comes true you must start dreaming of another target.”

One player who has already made the move north from White Hart Lane is Berbatov, but Pavlyuchenko suggested that the Bulgarian would not be welcome back at White Hart Lane.

“Robbie Keane returned to the Spurs as if he never left the club,” he continued. “It’s evident that he’s a man of authority inside the team which is good for us. He was always liked as far as I can judge.

“If Berbatov returned it would be taken quite differently. I heard tales that he was arrogant.”

Pavlyuchenko is expected to spearhead the Tottenham attack on Sunday, having so far scored in every round of the Carling Cup, a record which far exceeds his modest scoring feats in the Premier League.

“I don’t approach cup games any differently to league matches but in the Carling Cup things seem to have fallen into place,” he said. “Our Carling Cup run this year has given us something to cling to and everyone is so determined to go all the way now.

“They [his critics] are free to say whatever they want. I can only tell them that to play and score is hard in any game here. I wasn’t inflicted with as many bumps, bruises and scars in my whole career in Russia as in a half a season in England. And I’m 27 years old.

“I can tell you more: despite all the bumps and problems I’m very happy. I’ve come into the world where they do everything so that playing football brought joy.”

The Russian feels that if Spurs can achieve the unlikely and beat United, it will save their season for a multitude of reasons.

“I very much want to score in that match [the final],” he said. “We lost to them in the FA Cup. So the game is very important for us. First of all because it’s about a title. In football you need to win titles. So far I have only won the Russian Cup with Spartak and would like to feel those winner’s emotions again.

“Secondly, it’s a ticket to the Uefa Cup. Third, it means a chance to avenge our previous loss. And fourth, it will boost our self-assurance. It’s hard to over-estimate the importance of that match.”

An ankle fracture will prevent Rafael playing in the Carling Cup final.

Your one-page guide to Sunday’s Carling Cup final against Tottenham.

Sir Alex says players like Gibson and Welbeck deserve to play at Wembley.

You can back Tevez at 9/2 to score the first goal in Sunday’s final.

• Saha adds to Everton’s injury problems
• Villa back to strength after Uefa Cup defeat

Arsenal v Fulham (Saturday, 3pm)

• Arsenal will have the midfielder Abou Diaby available following a calf problem, while Andrei Arshavin is set to return after he was ineligible for the midweek Champions League tie against Roma. The defender William Gallas has recovered from a knock to his ankle and will be in the squad. However, Theo Walcott (shoulder) and striker Eduardo (hamstring) are not fully match fit. Mikaël Silvestre (calf), Emmanuel Adebayor (hamstring), captain Cesc Fabregas (knee) and Tomas Rosicky (hamstring tendon) remain on the sidelines.

Provisional Arsenal squad: Almunia, Sagna, Touré, Gallas, Clichy, Arshavin, Denilson, Diaby, Nasri, Van Persie, Bendtner, Fabianski, Eboué, Djourou, Gibbs, Song, Ramsey, Vela.

• Andy Johnson is fit to lead the line for Fulham. The striker was rested for Tuesday’s FA Cup win over Swansea after sustaining a knock against West Brom. The midfielder Robert Milsom is out for the season after injuring a cruciate ligament. Frederik Stoor will replace the suspended John Pantsil at right-back.

Provisional Fulham squad: Schwarzer, Hughes, Konchesky, Hangeland, Johnson, Zamora, Nevland, Gera, Murphy, Kamara, Gray, Zuberbühler, Stoor, Dempsey, Davies, Brown, Smalling, Kallio, Barnes, Dacourt.

Aston Villa v Stoke City (Sunday, 3pm)

• Martin O’Neil’s men will return to virtually full strength on Sunday. Gareth Barry, Brad Friedel, Emile Heskey, James Milner, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Carlos Cuellar and Stiliyan Petrov should all figure after being rested for the Uefa Cup defeat by CSKA Moscow. John Carew should also be included after recovering from a back injury. Martin Laursen and Wilfred Bouma are still injured, although the latter is close to a return after recovering from dislocating his ankle.

Provisional Aston Villa squad: Friedel, Guzan, Gardner, Davies, Knight, L Young, Shorey, Milner, Petrov, Barry, Sidwell, A Young, Osbourne, Salifou, Agbonlahor, Heskey, Carew, Delfouneso, Reo-Coker, Harewood.

• The suspended duo Rory Delap and Matthew Etherington are out for Stoke but manager Tony Pulis hopes striker Ricardo Fuller will take some part in the match. Fuller has been out with a shoulder problem and a late decision will be taken on his involvement. Liam Lawrence, who returned to action last week after an ankle injury and had another 45 minutes in a reserve game in midweek, may also be in contention for a starting place.

Provisional Stoke City squad: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Abdoulaye Faye, Higginbotham, Lawrence, Tonge, Diao, Amdy Faye, Pugh, Sidibe, Cresswell, Beattie, Simonsen, Whelan, Kitson, Camara, Sonko, Fuller.

Bolton Wanderers v Newcastle United (Sunday, 1pm)

• Bolton’s manager, Gary Megson, could name an unchanged side against Newcastle at the Reebok Stadium. The striker Johan Elmander looks likely to retain his placeafter making his comeback from a hamstring injury.

Provisional Bolton Wanderers squad: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, A O’Brien, Samuel, K Davies, McCann, Basham, Muamba, Gardner, Taylor, Cohen, Makukula, Puygrenier, Obadeyi, Al Habsi, M Davies, Smolarek, Riga, Hunt, Elmander.

Chelsea v Wigan Athletic (Saturday, 3pm)

• Chelsea are without the defender Ricardo Carvalho, who has a hamstring problem; the midfielder Deco is doubtful with a similar injury. Michael Essien is on the brink of fitness after long-term knee ligament problems but will also miss out.

Provisional Chelsea squad: Cech, Hilario, Taylor, Ferreira, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Mancienne, Ivanovic, A Cole, Belletti, Stoch, Lampard, Obi, Ballack, Deco, Kalou, Drogba, Anelka, Malouda, Di Santo.

• Wigan have more injuries to contend with – midfielders Daniel de Ridder and Jason Koumas are both doubts. The pair sustained thigh problems in training yesterday and look likely to be added to the list which includes winger Antonio Valencia (hamstring) and Mido (groin). The midfielder Ben Watson is suspended for the visit to Stamford Bridge.

Provisional Wigan Athletic squad: Kirkland, Melchiot, Scharner, Bramble, Figueroa, Cattermole, N’Zogbia, Sibierski, Kapo, Zaki, Kingson, Pollitt, Edman, Brown, Boyce, Rodallega.

Everton v West Bromwich Albion (Saturday, 12.45pm)

• Everton’s injury problems show no signs of abating with Louis Saha unlikely to feature here. The striker made a substitute appearance – his first for three months, after hamstring trouble – at Newcastle last weekend but is now struggling with a thigh problem. His fellow forward Victor Anichebe (knee) will be out for at least three weeks, while Mikel Arteta has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a ruptured cruciate. Jack Rodwell has not trained all week after sustaining an injury at St James’ Park. The midfielder Tim Cahill and right-back Tony Hibbert return after suspension.

Provisional Everton squad: Howard, Jagielka, Lescott, Yobo, Baines, Hibbert, Gosling, Van der Meyde, Neville, Fellaini, Osman, Cahill, Jo, Saha, Nash, Castillo, Jacobsen.

• West Brom are set to be boosted by the availability of midfielder Filipe Teixeira. Teixeira suffered a broken toe during last weekend’s 2-0 defeat at Fulham but he is expected to figure at Goodison Park. The bottom club are definitely without midfielders Jonathan Greening and Youssouf Mulumbu and central defender Jonas Olsson. Greening and Olsson are still sidelined by knee ligament problems while Mulumbu has a thigh strain.

Provisional West Bromwich Albion squad: Carson, Kiely, Zuiverloon, Hoefkens, Donk, Pele, Meite, Robinson, Cech, Koren, Teixeira, Kim, Valero, Brunt, Simpson, Fortune, Bednar, Moore, Martis, Menseguez.

Hull City v Blackburn Rovers (Sunday, 12.30pm)

• Hull’s captain, Ian Ashbee, is a doubt thanks to a slight tear in his calf and, with Wednesday’s trip to Fulham in mind, he will not be risked unduly by manager Phil Brown. The striker Caleb Folan is likely to miss out after suffering a groin strain in the FA Cup defeat of Sheffield United but Craig Fagan is back in contention after minor knee surgery. Andy Dawson is set to play his final game before a one-match ban and Kevin Kilbane is available after being cup-tied.

Provisional Hull City squad: Duke, Ricketts, Turner, Gardner, Dawson, Mendy, Zayatte, Marney, Kilbane, Garcia, Cousin, Ashbee, Geovanni, Barmby, Fagan, Halmosi, Doyle, Hughes, France, Manucho, Myhill.

• The midfielders Vince Grella and David Dunn are Blackburn’s two main injury worries. Grella (groin) and Dunn (hamstring) will both be given late fitness tests before a decision is made on their availability for the match at the KC Stadium. Manager Sam Allardyce is likely to make wholesale changes from the side which lost the FA Cup fifth-round replay against Coventry in midweek.

Provisional Blackburn Rovers squad: Robinson, Brown, Ooijer, Khizanishvili, Nelsen, Samba, Simpson, Warnock, Givet, Olsson, Dunn, Villanueva, Grella, Tugay, Andrews, Diouf, Pedersen, Treacy, Mokoena, Haworth, Santa Cruz, McCarthy, Roberts.

Middlesbrough v Liverpool (Saturday, 3pm)

• Gareth Southgate has Marlon King available as the Middlesbrough manager bids to end a run of 14 Premier League games without a win. King, on loan from Wigan until the end of the season, missed Boro’s match against the Latics last weekend due to the terms of his contract and was cup-tied for the matches with West Ham that sandwiched Saturday’s goalless draw. Southgate is likely to give Jérémie Aliadière his first league start of 2009 following the French forward’s fine display in Wednesday’s 2-0 FA Cup fifth-round win over the Hammers. Chris Riggott (knee) and Didier Digard (thigh) have long-term injuries and will not feature.

Provisional Middlesbrough squad: Jones, Hoyte, Pogatetz, Wheater, Huth, Arca, O’Neil, Bates, Downing, Aliadiere, Tuncay, Turnbull, McMahon, Walker, Taylor, Emnes, Johnson A, King, Alves

West Ham United v Manchester City (Sunday, 12.30pm)

• West Ham will be without the midfielder Mark Noble as he serves a one-match suspension. Jack Collison looks set to come into the starting XI, but defender James Collins (hamstring) is out after missing the midweek FA Cup replay defeat at Middlesbrough. Luis Boa Morte (groin), Kieron Dyer (calf), Danny Gabbidon (stomach/back) and striker Dean Ashton (ankle) are still out.

Provisional West Ham United squad: Green, Neill, Tomkins, Upson, Ilunga, Behrami, Parker, Collison, Kovac, Cole, Di Michele, Lastuvka, Lopez, Savio, Spector, Tristan, Sears.

• Midfielder Nigel de Jong is available again for Manchester City. De Jong sat out the Uefa Cup victory over FC Copenhagen as he was ineligible. The England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips is out, through suspension, while Gelson Fernandes remains doubtful with a hamstring strain.

Provisional Manchester City squad: Given, Hart, Schmeichel, Richards, Onuoha, Dunne, Kompany, Bridge, Garrido, Zabaleta, Elano, Caicedo, Ireland, de Jong, Fernandes, Robinho, Bellamy, Vassell, Weiss, Logan.

Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur (Carling Cup final, Sunday, 3pm)

• Sir Alex Ferguson has promised Darron Gibson and Danny Welbeck they will start against Tottenham. Ferguson has also confirmed that Rafael Da Silva, out with an ankle injury, will be missing for about a month. Anderson and Gary Neville will travel to Wembley.

Provisional Manchester United squad: Foster, Kuszczak, Neville, Fabio, Gibson, Evans, Vidic, Ferdinand, O’Shea, Evra, Welbeck, Anderson, Carrick, Fletcher, Park, Scholes, Nani, Ronaldo, Giggs, Tevez, Rooney.

• Tottenham have Robbie Keane, Wilson Palacios, Carlo Cudicini and Pascal Chimbonda ineligible to face Manchester United at Wembley. They played earlier in the competition for different clubs and the on-loan Fraizer Campbell cannot play against his parent club. The captain Ledley King (knee) will require his usual late check but is hopeful of playing, as is Jonathan Woodgate after requiring stitches against Hull on Monday. Roman Pavlyuchenko has been carrying a groin complaint.

Provisional Tottenham Hotspur squad: Gomes, Alnwick, Corluka, Assou-Ekotto, Woodgate, King, Bentley, Jenas, Modric, Zokora, Lennon, Pavyluchenko, Bent, O’Hara, Huddlestone, Bale, Dawson, Gunter, Giovani, Taarabt.

The matches, moments and Madrid meltdowns around Europe that we’ll be keeping a close eye on

Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur

“Spurs are on their way to Wembley, Tottenham’s going to do it again, they can’t stop ‘em, the boys from Tottenham, the boys from White Hart Lane.” Ah, Ossie’s dream. Now there’s a ditty and no doubt it will be heard again this Sunday as the Spurs hordes make their way to another cup final.

As in 1981, it’s another Manchester-based team that awaits them, although this time the most fearful Scot on show will not be the wild-haired, mustachioed Gerry Gow — City’s “man of steel” according to some fan-sites — but instead you-know-who barking orders from the touchline in between champs of his favourite minty gum.

Fergie’s promised to put the kids out for this one so expect a run out for such future Championship regulars as Darron Gibson, Rodrigo Possebon and Ben Foster, who despite being consistently touted as England’s future No1 has a wet Tuesday at Loftus Road written all over his brittle bones. “Sunday could be a bit of a stage for me to remind people of what I am about,” said Foster yesterday. People or scouts Ben?

For Spurs this is a chance to establish a second false dawn in the space of 12 months. Who can forget those images of Juande Ramos being drenched in champagne minutes after victory over Chelsea and Dimitar Berbatov smiling? Yes, smiling. It all seemed promising then, Champions League football was but a season away. But now? Well, Ramos and Berbatov have gone and all the new manager, Harry Redknapp, can console himself with is that as of Thursday night, ‘the boys of White Hart Lane’ are no longer involved in that pesky Uefa Cup, giving him even more time to concentrate on staving off relegation.

Sunday’s final could be an excuse to celebrate once again, though, and Spurs can take hope from the choice of referee: Chris Foy, from Merseyside. Fergie will be crying Scouse conspiracy should the result not go his way.

Hull v Blackburn Rovers

Remember that scene in Karate Kid when after days of doing that ‘wax-on, wax-off’ stuff, Daniel LaRusso finally got it during a hand-slapping knockabout with Mr Miyagi? Well at the KC Stadium on Sunday, we could see the footballing equivalent of what would have happened had ‘Daniel son’ turned around and smashed the old fella in the mouth with an eight-iron cunningly tucked away in his trouser-leg. Phil Brown faces Sam Allardyce for the first time since the pair stopped sharing a technical area at the Reebook Stadium, when Allardyce would bark orders at Bruno N’Gotty and Brown would be stood a few inches behind him, ready to step forward and bark the same orders at Ricardo Gardner. Should Hull prevail, it would not only be their first league victory in 10 matches but also leave Blackburn well and truly stuck in the relegation zone. Who would be the master then, Mr Allardyce? Not you, that’s for sure.

Livingston v Partick Thistle

Be honest, how hard would you try at work if you repeatedly received your wages later than promised? A bit hard? Not very hard at all? Turn up half an hour late and leave at lunchtime claiming to have a cold? The latter most likely. This is the situation the Livingston players find themselves in and what makes their home clash with the Scottish League One’s second-place side so intriguing. The Livi squad almost went on strike in January after they were yet again paid their wages late, and having expected to get February’s salary yesterday were left livid after being told by the club’s owner, Angelo Massone, it would now arrive early next week, ie in March. Now nobody is saying the squad would take revenge on Massone by chucking tomorrow’s game with Partick but if one or two players aren’t exactly at full pelt then who are we to be surprised and outraged?

Espanyol v Real Madrid

Espanyol recorded one of the greatest results in their history last week when they went to the Nou Camp and beat local rivals and current La Liga leaders Barcelona 2-1. Now they have a chance to repeat the magic by overcoming the champions on their own patch. Prior to Wednesday, few would have given Mauricio Pochettino’s side, who are currently second from bottom in the league, much of a chance against a team that had won nine matches in a row, its most recent 6-1. But then Liverpool came to the Spanish capital and punctured Real’s bubble, making Juande Ramos’s men look truly ordinary in the process. Now, who knows? Should be fascinating.

Olympiakos v Panathinaikos

The ‘derby of the eternal enemies’ and a first versus second clash in Greek’s Super League to boot. Olympiakos, the most successful club in Greece, with 36 league titles to their name, seem there for the taking having lost their last match to the Ergotelis (no, me neither) but will certainly not lie down against the aristocrats of Athens, who have a jaw-jutting three national newspapers dedicated to featuring and supporting them. For British observers, there is also the chance to see Avram Grant’s former training-pitch bully Henk Ten Cate in action again with the brooding, well-tanned Dutchman now in charge of Panathinaikos. That aside, there is also the more-than-good-chance of a proper scrap in the stands, although no one will want to see a repeat of the violence which erupted when these sides met in 2007 and resulted in the death of Panathinaikos supporter Mihalis Filopoulos.

From Forest’s 1979 pre-match booze-up to one of football’s greatest miscarriages of justice, we pick half a dozen formidable finals

1) Cloughie’s special teamtalk (Nottingham Forest 3-2 Southampton, 1979)

Earlier in the season, travelling to an evening kick-off at Anfield to defend a 2-0 first-leg lead over Liverpool in the first round of the European Cup, the Nottingham Forest squad were pleasantly surprised when Brian Clough stopped the bus, ordered the team into a local pub, and bought them all a lunchtime pint. Lovely! Then, when they sat down for lunch upon arriving at the team hotel, Clough poured everyone a glass of wine. A large one. Eh? But there was method in the madness: the players then snoozed all afternoon, before waking fully refreshed and worry free, easily holding the reigning European champions to a goalless draw and marching on in Europe.

Six months passed, months which saw Forest reach the final of the League Cup, in which they would face Lawrie McMenemy’s up-and-coming Southampton. Buoyed by the success of cracking open the tins before the Liverpool match, Clough decided to take it up a notch before the Wembley showpiece. The night before the game, Clough ordered his men to meet in a sideroom for a special teamtalk. Thinking it odd, because Clough never bothered talking about the opposition, the players may not have been particularly surprised to turn up and find their manager sitting next to a crate of champagne. Though they might have been slightly taken aback when he locked the door and told them nobody was going to bed before it was all swilled. John O’Hare protested, on the grounds that he only drank bitter. Cue the arrival on a tray of ten pints of foaming ale. There was no getting round it: the booze had to be sunk. Tony Woodcock, not a big drinker, had to be carried to bed.

The next day began with Clough, for some strange reason, nowhere to be seen as the teams took to the pitch, Peter Taylor leading Forest out. Saints went in at half-time a goal to the good, at which point Clough showed his face: popping his head round the dressing room door, he bollocked his team for drinking the previous night. In the second half a revived, or possibly incensed, Forest ran in three quicksmart goals to pip Saints to the trophy. Fittingly, as they received their winners medals, they were also given tankards.

2) The League Cup’s very own Matthews moment (Stoke City 2-1 Chelsea, 1972)

Modern footballers have a lot to thank George Eastham for. After falling out with Newcastle United in the late 1950s - he took exception to the fleapit the club put him up in, the directors arguing it was fine because Jackie Milburn had lived in it a decade or so before - he effectively went on strike when his request for a transfer was not granted. Eastham left the game to become a cork salesman in Guildford, forcing Newcastle to cut their losses and sell him to Arsenal. Eastham only found out about his transfer on the radio; incensed, he took the club to court in order to abolish the Football League’s retain-and-transfer rules. And in 1963, a judge declared the system “an unreasonable restraint of trade”. Footballers could no longer be treated like cattle.

However, for a while, it looked like the court case would be Eastham’s sole legacy. A regular goalscorer from midfield, Eastham had the misfortune to make his debut for Newcastle in 1956, a year after the club won their last domestic pot, while his stint at Arsenal came slap bang in the middle of the club’s 17-year barren spell. He made the England squads for the 1962 and 1966 World Cups, but played not a minute in either. When, in 1966, fast approaching 30 years of age, Eastham ended up at Stoke City - a club who, in the words of the Observer’s Hugh McIlvanney, “could not win an argument” - his jig looked pretty much up.

Six years later, however, and after a marathon League Cup run, Stoke and Eastham found themselves at Wembley. Neither party had a brass bawbee to show for a combined 125 years’ worth of effort, and nobody expected them to prevail at Wembley against the swaggering Chelsea of Charlie Cooke, Peter Osgood and Alan Hudson. But they did, Eastham setting off the scramble which led to Conway’s opener, then poking home the winner himself with 17 minutes to go. Stoke had won their first major trophy in their 109-year history, while at 35 years and 161 days, Eastham became the oldest player to score in, and win, a League Cup final. The nation didn’t quite rejoice, but was pretty content nonetheless: Eastham had provide the League Cup with its very own Matthews Moment.

3) Gus Caesar is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit (Luton Town 3-2 Arsenal, 1988)

Never mind the Birmingham Six, Barry George and Jez from Peep Show sending an innocent woman down because he got bored of boffing her: the biggest miscarriage of justice carried out in this green, unpleasant land has been the ridicule afforded Gus Caesar, largely because of one perceived howler during the glorious 1988 final.

If you actually watch Luton’s equaliser, he doesn’t do a lot wrong. Okay, there’s the inexplicable dithering that gets him into trouble - as if a Hiro Nakamura-ish figure had paused his brain for one crucial split-second while his body kept moving - but he still just about has the situation under control. He’s lurching around like a drunk, sure, but you can tell he is going to get to the ball in time to lump it out for a throw-in. And then Mark Stein basically decides to use him for a piggyback. (Stein’s amusing revisionism is that he “caught Gus on the ball. He was dilly-dallying and I robbed him.” Yeah, and Sam Fox and Mick Fleetwood read their cues perfectly.) How this is not penalised, only God - along with Joe Worrall - knows.

Even then Arsenal should get out of trouble, but Nigel Winterburn – who had already made a tool of himself minutes earlier by stealing a penalty from the usual taker Michael Thomas, then missing it – puts in a miserable, wishy-washy tackle on Kingsley Black, ultimately resulting in the goal. But Caesar was demonised, even more so when a middle-class person wrote some words about it, and he has been locked away in purgatory ever since. It’s Winterburn who should really be there. Or Nick Hornby, who should hang his head in shame.

4) Bruce Grobbelaar: Harald Schumacher lite? (Liverpool 2-1 Manchester United, 1983)

The late Jimmy Sirrel once said that, ‘The best team always wins and the rest is only gossip’. But the margins are often so slim as to seriously challenge that accepted notion. Take Liverpool’s four consecutive League/Milk Cup wins between 1981 and 1984. If that’s a run of success that doesn’t get anywhere near the credit it deserves, given that the competition was only a fraction away from the FA Cup in terms of prestige at that time, then it’s also one in which Liverpool sailed consistently and dangerously close to the wind.

In 1981 their first goal was given by Clive Thomas despite the linesman flagging for offside, prompting West Ham’s normally placid manager John Lyall to call Thomas a cheat (Thomas, mirthful to the last, said “I will be reporting Lyall… no one, in England or anywhere else in the world, calls me a cheat”). Liverpool went on to win the replay; in 1982 Spurs were 1-0 up with three minutes to go before Ronnie Whelan scrambled a scrappy equaliser and Spurs collapsed in extra-time; in 1984, Alan Hansen got away with a clear handball in the first game before Graeme Souness’s majestic goal won the replay. And in 1983, Bruce Grobbelaar somehow escaped a red card for a Schumacher-lite professional foul on Gordon McQueen.

With United’s only substitution already used, a palpably injured McQueen was hobbling around up front while Frank Stapleton and Lou Macari filled in at the back. In the final minute of normal time, he somehow zimmered through Liverpool’s offside trap, but was then flattened by an ultra-cynical bodycheck from Grobbelaar; Liverpool went on to win through Whelan’s glorious extra-time curler. Grobbelaar’s indiscretion seemed like a textbook example of the professional foul that was newly punishable by a red card, but George Courtney only gave a yellow. “It never entered my mind to send him off,” said Courtney. “I probably would have done if I’d wanted to play silly buggers.”

5) From the Horse of the Year Show to a riot in Naples (Swindon Town 3-1 Arsenal, 1969)

Arsenal hadn’t won a trophy since becoming league champions in 1953, but the north London giants were expected to end that shameful run at Wembley against third division Swindon Town. But no. “This snippet coming off the news tapes stuck first disbelief, then a sense of shock and horror into Arsenal supporters, who range the world,” reported the Guardian. “Swindon Town, with two goals in extra time from Don Rogers, beat Arsenal 3-1.”

Swindon’s Roger Smart had looked like being the hero in normal time, pouncing on some slapstick confusion between Ian Ure and Bob Wilson to poke home, but Bobby Gould equalised four minutes from time. He would soon wish he hadn’t bothered. “Extra time only brought the completion of humiliation,” continued the Guardian. “Swindon outstayed Arsenal when every man’s muscles screamed for relief, out-thought them for those crucial 30 minutes and, most damning of all, outplayed them.” Rogers scored twice, the crowning glory a long, powerful dribble which put paid to any accusations that the Horse of the Year Show quagmire on which they played was somehow a leveller.

Arsenal would finally win a couple of pots in 1971, landing the double. But by then Swindon had secured a double of their own. By winning the League Cup, they were entered in the inaugural Anglo-Italian League Cup, a competition set up to compensate them for being forced to forgo the Fairs Cup spot they had earned, but were denied by Uefa due to their third-division status. Swindon won that trophy, beating a Roma side including Fabio Capello 5-2 on aggregate, then followed it up a year later by landing the first Anglo-Italian Cup. That final was almost as spectacular as their League Cup success: 3-0 up against Napoli in the Italian side’s own stadium, the home fans began ripping up the joint, forcing the match to be abandoned.

6) Les Sealey gets in the hottest of funks (Manchester United 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday, 1991)

Les Sealey’s Manchester United career was defined by cup finals: there were four in just 55 games for the club, a preposterous and possibly unparalleled ratio. He replaced Jim Leighton in the 1990 FA Cup, filled in for Peter Schmeichel in the 1994 Carling Cup, and hobbled round one on leg in the 1991 Cup Winners’ Cup final. That was because, three-and-a-half weeks earlier in a League Cup final won deservedly by Wednesday through John Sheridan’s splendid goal, he had suffered a bone-deep gash to the knee in a collision with Paul Williams. When the United physio, Jim McGregor, pointed out that such an injury would force a substitution 99 times out of 99, Sealey reacted as calmly and reasonably as Francis Begbie does to a few gentle jibes about his sexuality.

Sealey point-blank refused to be substituted, and at one point - with blood dripping from his knee and boiling in his head, and his teeth gritted so hard you feared they might splinter into a million pieces and fly in McGregor’s phizog - he genuinely looked like he was about to chin the poor physio. It was like telling the good samaritan to eff off. There is a tendency to only accentuate the positive of past footballers who die prematurely, so we don’t dwell on, say, the managerial career of Alan Ball or the less than saintly side of Bobby Moore’s personality. But Sealey really was a legend: as mad as the Hatters he used to play for, in a sense, this was his finest hour.

Scott Murray is co-author of Day of the Match: A History of Football in 365 Days. Rob Smyth isn’t.

SIR Alex Ferguson believes the Carling Cup final will not be the priority for either United or Tottenham this week.


Ferguson is hungry for more silverware and is keen for the first domestic showpiece of the season to give the world champions their second trophy, but will include a number of youngsters in his side.

SIR Alex Ferguson believes the Carling Cup final will not be the priority for either United or Tottenham this week.


Ferguson is hungry for more silverware and is keen for the first domestic showpiece of the season to give the world champions their second trophy, but will include a number of youngsters in his side.

SIR Alex Ferguson believes the Carling Cup final will not be the priority for either United or Tottenham this week.


Ferguson is hungry for more silverware and is keen for the first domestic showpiece of the season to give the world champions their second trophy, but will include a number of youngsters in his side.

SIR Alex Ferguson believes the Carling Cup final will not be the priority for either United or Tottenham this week.


Ferguson is hungry for more silverware and is keen for the first domestic showpiece of the season to give the world champions their second trophy, but will include a number of youngsters in his side.

Manchester United full-back Rafael is ruled out for up to a month with a fractured ankle.

Sir Alex Ferguson has promised United pair Darron Gibson and Danny Welbeck they will start Sunday’s Carling Cup final with Tottenham.


The duo have shown plenty of promise for the Old Trafford outfit this term already and Ferguson feels they deserve an opportunity to strut their stuff in a major domestic showpiece.

Sir Alex Ferguson has promised United pair Darron Gibson and Danny Welbeck they will start Sunday’s Carling Cup final with Tottenham.


The duo have shown plenty of promise for the Old Trafford outfit this term already and Ferguson feels they deserve an opportunity to strut their stuff in a major domestic showpiece.

Sir Alex Ferguson has promised United pair Darron Gibson and Danny Welbeck they will start Sunday’s Carling Cup final with Tottenham.


The duo have shown plenty of promise for the Old Trafford outfit this term already and Ferguson feels they deserve an opportunity to strut their stuff in a major domestic showpiece.

Sir Alex Ferguson has promised United pair Darron Gibson and Danny Welbeck they will start Sunday’s Carling Cup final with Tottenham.


The duo have shown plenty of promise for the Old Trafford outfit this term already and Ferguson feels they deserve an opportunity to strut their stuff in a major domestic showpiece.

Gary Pallister and Gary Mabbutt give their views on Sunday’s Wembley final

Manchester United win the Carling Cup with a 4-1 penalty shoot-out triumph over Tottenham at Wembley.

FRUSTRATED striker Nemanja Vidic has warned Tottenham to watch out if he gets a chance to score in Sunday’s Carling Cup final.


The United star might be in line to scoop the PFA player of the year prize for his exploits in the Reds’ record-breaking defensive efforts this season. But Vidic admits nothing quite beats the thrill of making the net bulge.

FRUSTRATED striker Nemanja Vidic has warned Tottenham to watch out if he gets a chance to score in Sunday’s Carling Cup final.


The United star might be in line to scoop the PFA player of the year prize for his exploits in the Reds’ record-breaking defensive efforts this season. But Vidic admits nothing quite beats the thrill of making the net bulge.

FRUSTRATED striker Nemanja Vidic has warned Tottenham to watch out if he gets a chance to score in Sunday’s Carling Cup final.


The United star might be in line to scoop the PFA player of the year prize for his exploits in the Reds’ record-breaking defensive efforts this season. But Vidic admits nothing quite beats the thrill of making the net bulge.

FRUSTRATED striker Nemanja Vidic has warned Tottenham to watch out if he gets a chance to score in Sunday’s Carling Cup final.


The United star might be in line to scoop the PFA player of the year prize for his exploits in the Reds’ record-breaking defensive efforts this season. But Vidic admits nothing quite beats the thrill of making the net bulge.

Today’s flim-flam got ‘em off Nobby Burton. Two for a tenner? Yes please, four

They are probably the world’s two biggest clubs, but Manchester United and Real Madrid are basically just two kids in a playground trying to get one up on each other. All they do is argue: over whose dad is harder, over who felt up Imelda Davis behind the bike sheds first, over who started the school craze for wearing odd trainers. If one says ‘tomay-to’, the other says ‘WOULD YOU LIKE A KNUCKLE SANDWICH?’

And if one wants a player, so does the other. So it is that Madrid are pulling out most of the stops to sign Carlos Tevez from Kia Joorabchian FC, perhaps not realising that - like Gabriel Heinze, Ruud van Nistelrooy and David Beckham - Sir Alex Ferguson might not actually be that bothered about Tevez leaving.

In other news, Everton still want Sporting Lisbon midfielder Joao Moutinho, just like they did the other day. Moutinho would cost around £10m and increase Everton’s pool of midfielders to 942.

Moutinho’s nearish namesake Jose Mourinho might also be on Merseyside next season: he has been lined up to replace Rafa Benítez should Rafa finally decide to swan out of Anfield for the final time, whistling Happy Go Lucky Me by George Formby and languidly tossing Vs at the entire world.

In an unrelated development, Woy Hodgson is desperate to keep hold of Mr Joanna Taylor, aka Danny Murphy, whose contract expires at the end of the season. Woy has persuaded the Fulham board to open talks on a contract, probably just by asking them, because he’s one of life’s good guys, isn’t he, and you’d struggle to say ‘no’ to him, wouldn’t you? Unless he asked for that. And even then you’d say no with a heavy heart.

Gareth Southgate and Sam Allardyce are currently locked in an epic sumo wrestle. To the victor, the spoils. To the loser, the right to pay Sheffield Wednesday £2m for their defender Tommy Spurr.

In an unfortunate or perhaps deliberate turn of phrase, the BBC site says that Dwight Yorke is going to “spill the beans” on his former love Jordan.

And with that, we’re off.

CARLOS Tevez insists Tottenham won’t get in the way of United’s quintuple dream.


The Argentina international looks set to start Sunday’s Carling Cup final at Wembley and says the Premier League and European champions are desperate to achieve a historic clean sweep this season.

CARLOS Tevez insists Tottenham won’t get in the way of United’s quintuple dream.


The Argentina international looks set to start Sunday’s Carling Cup final at Wembley and says the Premier League and European champions are desperate to achieve a historic clean sweep this season.

CARLOS Tevez insists Tottenham won’t get in the way of United’s quintuple dream.


The Argentina international looks set to start Sunday’s Carling Cup final at Wembley and says the Premier League and European champions are desperate to achieve a historic clean sweep this season.

CARLOS Tevez insists Tottenham won’t get in the way of United’s quintuple dream.


The Argentina international looks set to start Sunday’s Carling Cup final at Wembley and says the Premier League and European champions are desperate to achieve a historic clean sweep this season.