Manchester United news and links

Today’s gossip is hoping you all phone up and vote for it …

It is with an extra sense of liberty that the Mill picks up its quill on this bright and cheery autumnal morning, safe in the knowledge that nobody will be reading because they are all outside the X Factor house, too busy even to access the page on their iPhones as they jostle to be in the best position to see those twins with big quiffs walk out of the door, climb into a car with darkened windows and drive off down the road to be interviewed on Tragic FM over an hour and a quarter of premium drive-time.

It’s as if Ground Zero for the British game has relocated a few miles from Wembley to the exclusive north London enclave of Hampstead (though it’s more Golders Green really). This is the new football. It’s glamorous. It’s on television much more often than you’d like. The stars are just pale imitations of the old greats. It’s troubled by crowd violence.

Crowd violence? Why yes – just like on the terraces in the bad old days, only with teenage girls and flashing breasts instead of middle-aged men and flashing blades. “I got punched in the back of the head yesterday,” one fan told the BBC. “It’s really aggressive, but I love it. It makes you want to come down even more.”

And there’s crowd congestion too. “When they appear everyone screams and runs,” says another. “It does get a bit dangerous. Someone got pushed over and people were climbing over the fences. I think the atmosphere’s a bit mad, really.”

It’s basically indistinguishable from football in the mid-80s, but for the relatively minor roles played by feet and balls. Before you know it they’ll be playing fixtures across the country before pumped-up crowds of partisans. Oh.

Incidentally, did you hear that the Chinese ambassador, Madam Fu Ying, has apparently made an official complaint because of all the noise made by teenage girls outside the X Factor house, which happens to be next to her own? Apparently she’s Fu Ming.

Is that joke acceptable? It’s so hard to tell these days.

One man who used to have the X Factor, but so far this season has been showing more of the P45 Factor, is Rio Ferdinand. Things have got so bad for the Manchester United centre-back, magazine publisher and movie mogul that he has been linked with a summer move to Tottenham Ruddy Hotspur, whose manager Harry Redknapp is “monitoring the situation closely”. United, meanwhile, think Everton’s Jack Rodwell is right up their street. But so do Arsenal and Liverpool.

Talking of Arsenal, their Carling Cup hero Fran Mérida, out of contract in the summer, is straying dangerously close to the crosshairs on Atlético Madrid’s sharp-shooter’s scope. “He’s a player that interests us,” says their president, Enrique Cerezo. “The decision rests with the kid because he is free in June.” Apparently on his way into the Emirates is Torino’s Italy Under-21 defender Angelo Ogbonna. “I know exactly what I want and I am not closing the door on anything,” he says.

Puzzling quote of the day comes from the Gunners’ Samir Nasri, on the subject of his first start in three months against Liverpool on Wednesday. “I had appetite,” he says. “I wanted to eat the pitch.” Eh?

X Factor United twins John and Edward have shaken hands with someone who since found out he has swine flu, so now they might die.

Phil Brown has two games to save his job. But if Hull lose the first – at Burnley tomorrow – he might not get the second. So it’s one game to save his job, really. Except the Mail says he’ll be sacked even if he wins it. So he’s done for, basically. Reading’s Brendan Rodgers has also been given two games to save his job, although whether this means one, none, or three it’s hard to make out.

Birmingham want a striker, but can’t decide whether to go for Seville’s £8m-rated Arouna Koné, perhaps on loan, or Salzburg’s Austrian international Marc Janko. Or both. And Celtic’s Aiden McGeady. Cripes. You’d have thought the club had a wealthy new backer or something.

And now our Championship rumour special! You can skip this paragraph if you want, as it doesn’t mention Manchester United at any point. QPR are the latest club to think that if you pay Nathan Ellington enough money he might be as good as he was at Wigan all those years ago, and won’t find anyone at Watford putting up much of a fight to keep him. Ipswich want the Celtic captain Stephen McManus, Derby are planning a swoop for Plymouth’s Jamie Mackie and Swansea want Sheffield United’s David Cotterill.

And the Mill has been linked with a move from its desk in Mill Towers to the No82 bus to Golders Green, though the double-decked suitor will have to fight off a rival bid from the No13.

• Alan Wiley reportedly made offer to Keith Hackett
• Ferguson praised for accepting Gary Neville red card

Alan Wiley reportedly offered to resign after the criticism levelled at his fitness by Alex Ferguson following Manchester United’s draw with Sunderland.

The 49-year-old official said that if the referees chief Keith Hackett did not think he was fit enough to take charge of Premier League games he would resign, according to the Daily Star.

Hackett, general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, told the paper that people in football should show more understanding of the pressure referees faced. “What football needs to realise is these guys have to walk down the street and into shopping malls and this was public pressure,” Hackett said.

However, Hackett was pleased with the Manchester United manager’s acceptance of Gary Neville’s dismissal in the Carling Cup tie at Barnsley on Tuesday. “That helps enormously,” he said. “It’s been a good season so far. Red cards are down because of the dialogue between us all.”

In what has already been a lively season for refereeing controversies, Hackett added that he had apologised to the Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez over the award of Sunderland’s beachball-deflected goal in the match at the Stadium of Light earlier this month and felt Arsène Wenger was poorly treated during Arsenal’s defeat at Manchester United in August.

“When I rang Benítez about the beach ball he was excellent about it,” Hackett continued. “I don’t go around saying sorry all the time but I do when I think it is necessary. It was a rule and should have been known.” The referee at that match, Mike Jones, was demoted the following weekend.

Hackett said the Arsenal manager’s sending-off in the last minute of their defeat at Old Trafford brought bad publicity for his profession. The fourth official Lee Probert and the referee Roger Dean were both reprimanded and Hackett contacted Wenger to apologise: “Why not just say to Arsène, ‘There are seconds to go, come on, settle down’?”

The referees chief also reiterated his support for goalline technology in the light of events this season. “This season we had an incident when Crystal Palace scored a goal at Bristol City and it wasn’t given. We could eliminate that mistake in seconds. Hawk-Eye technology could be a huge friend to football. We are not in an age of guesswork anymore.”

MANCHESTER United striker Wayne Rooney has been shortlisted for the FIFA World Player of the Year award.


Rooney has spearheaded the Reds attack admirably since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid and also impressed for Fabio Capello’s resurgent England side.

SIR Alex Ferguson looks set for another collision course with Rafael Benitez over Valencia star David Villa.


Both United and Liverpool have been alerted to the fact that the Spanish international could be made available during the January transfer window.

• Wigan manager rings round bosses to apologise
• League Managers Association offers its full support

Roberto Martínez is being offered the full investigative support of the League Managers Association in a bid to prove he did not make the controversial comments that have forced him to apologise to Sir Alex Ferguson, Steve Bruce, Sam Allardyce and Rafael Benítez.

Reports in Spain at the weekend claimed the Wigan manager had accused Ferguson of heading up an anti-Benítez alliance, backed up by chief foot-soldiers including the Blackburn Rovers manager, Allardyce, and Sunderland’s Bruce.

It prompted Martínez to issue a rapid denial of the quotes before also referring the matter to the LMA, who are standing by their man. A full investigation is under way, with the LMA seeking to clarify with Martínez his version of events before deciding on future action.

“We are discussing it internally to see how best we can address the situation to ensure this does not happen again,” its chief executive, Richard Bevan, said yesterday. “Until we have concluded our investigation and spoken to Roberto we really have nothing else to inform you of,” he added.

Martínez explained that he has sought the intervention of the LMA simply because he is too inexperienced to know where else to turn in such a scenario. “I’m 36, 10 games in the Premier League, I’ve never been in this situation before,” he said. “They’ve got the advice and expertise, and we’ll try to get to the bottom of it and see the best way to deal with it.”

Martínez was not happy with the way he had been forced into making a ring-around to smooth out the situation with his fellow Premier League managers. “I spoke to Sir Alex and Steve Bruce and Sam Allardyce but also Rafa Benítez as well because I felt it was just as disrespectful to him. I don’t think he needs anyone to defend him.

“It’s fortunate that for 14 years I’ve been talking to the British media, everyone knows me and I have no problem talking about any issue or any subject that concerns me or the club, but we need to understand the Spanish media is very different. People who know me know I am not a disrespectful person. I don’t feel I have the right to discuss this or feel I have done anything in the Premier League yet to talk about other football clubs.”

• Sir Alex Ferguson says Brazil game motivated by ‘nice trip’
• ‘You have the intrusion of a friendly in some unknown country’

Sir Alex Ferguson has expressed his frustration about the scheduling of England’s friendly matches and accused the Football Association of arranging games as money-making exercises when, to his mind, possibly even Fabio Capello does not want them. England have a friendly against Brazil in Qatar on 14 November and Ferguson believes there are times when the FA’s directors are more interested in a “nice trip” on a “sunny day” than the needs of Premier League managers.

The FA is being paid a reputed £400,000 to stage the match in Doha despite it meaning a 6,500-mile round trip for the players and two flights of almost seven hours. Ferguson did not refer to the Qatar match specifically but is known to be dismayed by its timing and the demands it will put on the players who will be involved from Manchester United.

“It’s a coach’s nightmare, especially if you are in the middle of a European campaign and going for cups and titles,” the United manager said. “You have all these fixtures and you have the intrusion of a friendly international game in some unknown country, so that is a definite thorn in everyone’s flesh.

“Unfortunately you can’t do anything about it. It’s always a grey area between coaches of the league teams and the English manager. All the international managers have their jobs to do and we support that, particularly when it comes to the issues of competitive games such as the European Championship or the World Cup. You want them to play in the important international games; it’s the friendly matches that are the problem.

“I don’t think that any [league manager] agrees with them whereas international managers have a situation that they find themselves in. I think that some of them actually could do without the friendly games themselves, but the football associations from every country warn them that sometimes it’s a nice day for them, a nice trip for them, a sunny day, and in some cases it creates good revenue for them. So you can understand it.”

Ferguson is notoriously reluctant to let his players be involved in international friendlies, particularly when it requires a long trip and the potentially sapping effects of jet lag. His primary concern, however, is the fitness of his players and, to cite one example, Neil Webb tells the story of being instructed to make up an injury to get out of an England friendly against Czechoslovakia in 1992. However, the United manager now says that, with age, he has stopped worrying so much about players picking up injuries on international duty.

“When I first came to United I used to worry about the players all going away, and I remember one case when we were playing Arsenal in the fifth round of the [FA] Cup at the old Highbury stadium [in February 1988], and Bryan Robson got injured in the international game on the Wednesday before and missed the Cup tie, and we lost 2-1.

“I would have thought that if Bryan Robson had been there we’d have been OK. But I no longer worry about it. I accept it as part of the international scene. I no longer focus on every match that is going on because there are so many players all over the world, so I no longer get myself in a twist about it.”

A succession of England managers may doubt that, but Ferguson insisted that he was generally happy for his players to be picked for their countries.

“There are occasions when I’m hoping a player gets picked, For psychological reasons, to give the player a boost, because he’s maybe been overlooked before,” he said. “For instance, Michael Carrick has not been a regular in the England team, and he’s a very, very good player but, with Lampard and Gerrard, players of that calibre, competing with him then sometimes I’m very hopeful that he’ll get picked and show his true self. You have at times a good strong feeling that this could be good for your player.”

Sam Allardyce’s men have conceded fives and sixes… could you cash in?

• Fábio booked for trip Rafael had made against Barnsley
• FA regulatory commission to consider case next week

Sir Alex Ferguson admits he struggles to tell them apart and now it appears that referees suffer from the same problem. Fábio and Rafael da Silva helped United to secure a place in the Carling Cup quarter-finals in Tuesday night’s 2-0 victory against Barnsley but now the club have submitted a claim of mistaken identity to the Football Association.

When both Da Silva twins challenged Barnsley’s Jamal Campbell-Ryce in the 83rd minute, resulting in the Barnsley substitute being tripped, Chris Foy showed a yellow card to Fábio. Later television replays showed Rafael to be the offender. The FA confirmed it has been approached by United and the submission will be heard on Tuesday by a regulatory commission.

“We are in discussions with the FA over this matter,” confirmed a United spokesman. “We have pointed out that the referee made a mistake on the night and we obviously want it to be corrected. We will be asking for further advice on how best to rectify the situation.”

Foy sent off United’s Gary Neville in the 63rd minute of that match, a decision Ferguson later admitted was the right one. The United manager found more common ground with the referee with his previous admission that he can only tell the difference between the 19-year-old Da Silva twins by the wedding ring that Fábio wears.

Fábio, whose shirt number is 20, was sent off in United’s third-round Carling Cup victory over Wolverhampton. Rafael, who wears 21 on his shirt, was playing his first match for United this season against Barnsley after returning from shoulder surgery in the summer.

Manchester United submit a claim of mistaken identity to the FA after Fabio da Silva was booked for a foul, rather than his twin brother Rafael.

MANCHESTER United are breaking Michael Owen in gently at Old Trafford following his surprise free transfer move from Newcastle in the summer.


Owen marked his return to the starting XI at Barnsley, after being on the bench against Liverpool, with his third goal of the season in the Carling Cup victory.

Former Celtic striker Henrik Larsson retires from football after a career spanning two decades.

WIGAN manager Roberto Martinez has phoned Sir Alex Ferguson to explain remarks attributed to him in a Spanish newspaper.


Martinez has also contacted Steve Bruce, Sam Allardyce and Rafael Benitez after they were all implicated in the article.

• United say Rafael da Silva should have been booked not Fábio
• FA will hear the case in a regulatory commission

Manchester United have submitted a claim of mistaken identity to the Football Association after Fábio da Silva was booked by Chris Foy against Barnsley in the Carling Cup.

Instead the offender – for a challenge on Jamal Campbell-Ryce – was his twin brother, Rafael.

The FA confirmed they have been approached by United and the submission will be heard on Tuesday by a regulatory commission.

The Brazilian twins helped United secure a place in the quarter-finals of the competition thanks to a 2-0 victory. However the holders finished the game with 10 men after Foy sent off Gary Neville for clattering into Adam Hammill.

MANCHESTER United have submitted a claim of mistaken identity to the Football Association after Fabio da Silva was booked by referee Chris Foy against Barnsley in the Carling Cup.


Instead the offender - for a challenge on Jamal Campbell-Ryce - was his twin brother Rafael.

Reds’ next league opponents put five past Peterborough in the Carling Cup.

Welbeck and Owen reflect on a successful trip to Barnsley.

All the information you need to know ahead of Saturday’s clash with Rovers.

Peterborough United sign Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Amos on a one-month loan.

INDULGE me for a moment because I need to get this question off my chest. Do you have to be an expert spitter to play professional football?


Watching a player gob out a mouthful of his bodily fluids on to the pitch - or on to an opponent - is disgusting enough as it is.

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez contacts Sir Alex Ferguson and other managers to explain remarks attributed to him in the Spanish media.

WIGAN manager Roberto Martinez has phoned Sir Alex Ferguson to explain remarks attributed to him in a Spanish newspaper.


Martinez has also contacted Steve Bruce, Sam Allardyce and Rafael Benitez after they were all implicated in the article.

MICHAEL Owen must be wondering where the next threat to his international ambitions will come from.


The United striker is desperate to force his way into Fabio Capello’s World Cup plans - but everywhere he turns another challenger enters the fray.

GIVEN the manner in which he was left red-faced by Fernando Torres, you might think the Liverpool striker would rank highly among the hitmen most feared by Rio Ferdinand.


But aside from Real Madrid forward Raul, the other men singled out by the United defender, might surprise a few. The names of John Hartson and Kevin Davies wouldn’t be top of most Reds fans’ lists when it comes to their ideal frontman.

Sir Alex Ferguson should let his team do the talking – we’ve all heard enough

The day will come, attended by trumpets and glorious sunshine piercing the clouds, when Sir Alex Ferguson admits that righteousness exists outside Old Trafford and the confines of his own mind. He came close this week when he said of Gary Neville’s tackle on Barnsley’s Adam Hammill: “I think he followed through and caught the boy. It wasn’t high, just above the ankle, but in the present climate I think the referee was correct.”

Above the ankle as in just under the knee. Probably correct as in dead right. But, you know, it’s a start. We ought to be used to it, but we are obsessed with the man. He probably knows it, as well – which might be why he comes out with such nonsense.

It would be sensible, I suppose, to ignore him. And how would he handle a reverse boycott? How would Ferguson exist in a world where the only people listening to what he had to say were his team, his wife and the poor folk at MUTV? But that is harder said than done when Manchester United are so central to everything that moves on Planet Football.

Help is at hand, though. Another eccentric Scot, Gordon Strachan, has reappeared in our lives to sprinkle slightly less acidic wisdom. Strachan’s return to football management at Middlesbrough was marked by his trademark gnomic observations on life, and how welcome they were.

There is something life-affirming about a manager who turns up at a new club and announces that, all things considered, he’d still rather be driving around the west coast of Ireland in the rain – and then lets it be known, surreptitiously on a piece of paper, that there are nine players he wants to sign, including United’s Federico Macheda and Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere. You can almost hear the teacups rattling the walls in Manchester and London.

Strachan’s view of football and life is somewhat removed from that of Ferguson and Arsène Wenger, and long may it be so. When he was at Southampton years ago, he told me that, apart from the coaching and running around, football management was a bit of a bore. “I don’t really like the day-to-day nonsense,” he said. “I love football, but I’m not obsessed with it.”

Partly that might be due to the fact that Strachan was still doing the business as a player for Leeds United in his late 30s and for Coventry at the age of 40. He left the playing field sated.

Earlier he played under Ferguson at Aberdeen, and what wonderful days they were as they broke the Old Firm nexus in Scotland and went on to conquer Europe.

But how their careers diverged after that. Ferguson went on to define his career – and his life – as a manager, probably the finest these islands have produced. Strachan chose to extend his playing career until he reckoned the bones and muscles weren’t up to it any more.

United paid £500,000 for him in 1984 and it started pretty well, as Strachan played his part winning the FA Cup the following year. Thereafter, he struggled – and Ferguson sold him to Leeds for £200,000 in 1989. There appeared to be no rancour, but Strachan seemed determined to prove Ferguson wrong by going on just a little bit longer than the United manager reckoned he was capable of. To the astonishment of many, he played some of his best football at Elland Road.

Apart from his time at Celtic, Strachan always seemed the most reluctant manager, someone who wandered into the job for the lack of alternatives. And so it came across at Middlesbrough this week, when he was brought back from semi-retirement to replace Gareth Southgate.

Strachan does not lack for passion. In fact he has a burning desire to return to Scotland one day and help restore the game there. For now, his job is saving Middlesbrough.

It will be some time before he shares a touchline with Ferguson. Indeed, it might never happen. But, if it does, I think the banter on Strachan’s patch will be some way more entertaining – and entirely less predictable – than in the United box.

Dingo v Rocky – a battle that’s more OAP than WBO

I’m not sure what this says about the state of Australian boxing (or the sport in general) but the gloriously named Dexter “Dingo” Dunworth, 53, from Sydney, who claims to be the oldest professional fighter in the world, has challenged Sylvester “Rocky” Stallone to a fight.

This, you might assume, would be for the world heavyweight championship of sadness.

No, it is proposed as a bout to decide the hitherto little-known Mid-American heavyweight title – which is wholly appropriate for a fighter whose 10 ring appearances have been restricted to Arkansas, in venues as modest as the Old High School Gym in Ozark, the Washington County Fair Grounds in Lafayetteville, and the LV Williams Boys and Girls Club in Russellville.

To be fair to Dingo, he has won nine of those, by stoppage, retirement or knockout. To be even fairer, the other guys – one of whom revels in the ring name Mitch “Hold My Beer” Hicks – would struggle as opponents for SpongeBob SquarePants, let alone Rocky.

Dingo told the Sun-Herald, “I’m old enough to be the father of many of my opponents … and I hope, if nothing else, I can inspire others to get out and have a go.” He has. A story from Germany says Stallone, 63, is going to make Rocky VII.

Americans could teach us all a lesson in honesty

Bite down on this, but we’ve still got a lot to learn from the Americans about sport and telling it like it is.

“We aren’t good right now. That’s it. Period.” – Browns quarterback Derek Anderson. “I don’t think we could have beaten an Oakland high school team today.” – Raiders defensive tackle Richard Seymour. “It’s embarrassing to come out and play like that. I tip my hat to their whole team.” – Bears defensive end Alex Brown, after losing by 35 points to the Bengals.

And here?

“Liverpool were the better team, they deserved to win the game, but there were so many controversial things that happened we have to feel aggrieved at some of them.” – Sir Alex Ferguson. “The crowd got Vidic booked, and that put the ref under pressure but this atmosphere is hard to handle for a referee. Whether he had enough experience or not, I don’t know, but he will certainly learn from it.” – Ditto. “It is a fantastic result, and maybe it was the perfect game.” – Rafael Benítez.

Zamora gets himself in another fine miss

OK, everyone can miss a goal from 15 feet out, but how long before the old Brighton & Hove Albion classic is revived at Fulham: “When you’re sat in Row Z, and the ball hits your head, that’s Zamora”? Just a thought.

• CCTV footage being used to identify violent United fans
• Uefa likely to fine United for pitch invasion against Wolfsburg

Manchester United have branded as “thugs” the supporters whose behaviour in Tuesday’s Carling Cup tie at Barnsley has prompted a Football Association investigation, and the reputation of their fans will soon be damaged again tomorrow when Uefa fines the club for the third time in 18 months.

While Barnsley are preparing to send United a bill running into thousands of pounds for the damage caused to the north stand at Oakwell, Uefa is holding a disciplinary hearing into a pitch invasion by a supporter at Old Trafford during the Champions League tie against Wolfsburg on 30 September.

A similar offence led to United being fined SFr10,000 (£5,900) after the second leg of the semi-final against Barcelona at Old Trafford in April 2008. The club were also fined, along with Arsenal, after missiles were thrown on the pitch and flares were lit during the second leg of last season’s semi-final. Uefa’s control and disciplinary body will take both of these incidents into account when deciding the level of the fine.

The Premier League champions then face possible sanctions from the FA after some of their supporters forced their way into a catering area at Barnsley during the half-time interval on Tuesday night, stealing money and going on the rampage after they had been refused beer. Eight members of staff were forced to barricade themselves into a storeroom while the culprits threw bottles and other missiles at the police, one officer suffering a minor facial injury.

“Police officers responded by arresting three people,” a spokesman for the South Yorkshire force said. “Some of the fans who broke into the food kiosk also threw items at the Barnsley stewards.”

Later a bottle was thrown from the away end towards Michael Owen after he had scored United’s second goal in a 2-0 win that put Sir Alex Ferguson’s team into the quarter-finals.

“The thugs who spoil the reputation of the team and fellow supporters have no place at Manchester United,” an Old Trafford spokesman said. “The club will support strongly any actions taken should the culprits be identified and we would pursue banning orders on anyone convicted of any offence at Oakwell.”

In total eight people were arrested inside the ground, five of them United supporters and three Barnsley fans. Police in riot gear used dogs to help control the 4,000 away fans. Two more people were arrested after the match, when they jumped on to a railway line and stopped a Barnsley to Sheffield train.

A spokesman for Barnsley said there was CCTV footage of the trouble, stating that it had caused “substantial damage” as well as leaving staff in fear for their safety. “The club are working closely with South Yorkshire police and anyone found to be involved can expect a lifetime ban from Oakwell,” the spokesman added. “We will also press for the full use of the law against anyone identified in the events.”

The FA will look at reports from the referee, Chris Foy, and a crowd-control adviser who was at the game before deciding whether United should be punished with a charge of failing to control their fans. This would almost certainly result in another fine.

“There is no place for antisocial or violent behaviour in our game,” an FA spokesman said. “The FA will also be liaising with both clubs and South Yorkshire police to gather evidence relating to events at Oakwell. Any culprit found to be involved in these disturbances and identified by either the police or clubs should be subject to a lengthy ban from attending football matches.”

MANCHESTER United defender Jonny Evans believes Michael Owen is proving he remains a class act.


Owen, a surprise signing from Newcastle in the summer, scored his third goal of the season in the Carling Cup victory against Barnsley at Oakwell.

WIGAN manager Roberto Martinez has denied that he suggested the Football Association are afraid to punish Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.


Martinez was reported to have claimed the FA were almost “apologising” to Ferguson for sanctioning the Scot over his comments that referee Alan Wiley was unfit to do his job.

• Seven arrested and food kiosk is stormed
• ‘It’s a hell of a mess down there’ – Barnsley

The Football Association has confirmed it is investigating reports of crowd disturbances during last night’s Carling Cup tie between Barnsley and Manchester United at Oakwell.

South Yorkshire Police arrested four ment at the match – all of whom are from Manchester – after trouble flared at half-time. Eight catering staff were trapped inside a food kiosk and had to barricade themselves in a store room for around 25 minutes as fans broke in and stole cash and food.

Stewards on the pitch also had food thrown at them during the violence.

“Police and both football clubs were disappointed by the conduct of a minority of fans,” said a spokesman for South Yorkshire police. “We responded quickly and effectively to a spontaneous disorder caused by a small group of people that had gathered near to the central bar on the North Stand.

“Officers in protective uniform were deployed to restore order, disperse the crowd and ensure the safety of staff inside the area.”

In a separate incident, three Barnsley fans were arrested for running on to the pitch during play.

“There is no place for anti-social or violent behaviour in our game,” added a FA spokesperson. “Any culprit found to be involved in these disturbances and identified as such by either the police or clubs should be subject to a lengthy ban from attending football matches.”

The governing body is now awaiting the reports of the FA crowd control adviser present at the game, as well as the match referee Chris Foy.

Barnsley are also launching their own investigation into the violence and have already accused Manchester United fans of causing “substantial damage” to the North Stand. “A complaint has been made to the police and we will be taking a look at CCTV footage of the incident before we can comment further,” said a club spokesman. “It’s a hell of a mess down there. Doors have been kicked in, tills have been damaged and there’s food and drink everywhere. It looks like a swamp in one of the bars.”

Officials may know the rules but they are as useless as anyone else when it comes to judgment and interpretation

Does anyone else think Jeff Winter was totally wrong to say Sir Alex Ferguson was totally wrong at the weekend?

It is bad enough that barely a Premier League game can go by these days without Manchester United’s tetchy manager hijacking the news agenda because the referee wasn’t fit, strong or experienced enough to handle the fact that the defending champions sometimes need a little help when they are playing badly, but if retired referees are going to join in the slanging match too, the actual football will soon struggle to get a look-in.

Somebody ought to stand up against Ferguson, that’s for sure, but one would rather hear the views of the referee in question rather than the comments of a less than impartial observer who just wants to stick up for the men in black. Perhaps I do Winter a disservice there, for he was one of a clutch of experts and former officials who quickly and correctly pronounced the referee wrong over the Sunderland beach ball fiasco, though that was a relatively straightforward, if arcane, point of law.

Referees are good at knowing the laws, and on the whole it is handy that these days they can be whistled up, so to speak, to give instant assessments . Yet no matter how well-versed in the game’s small print, they are as useless as anyone else when it comes to judgment and interpretation, as Winter has just proved. The simple fact is that Jamie Carragher could easily have been sent off for his “last man” foul on Michael Owen on Sunday, many referees would have produced a red card then indicated by gesture that under the present rules they really had no option, and had that happened neither the Liverpool captain nor his club would have earned much sympathy by complaining.

This is not necessarily to agree with Ferguson and conclude Andre Marriner made the wrong decision – it was, in short, a tricky decision that could have gone either way. The only two people who do not seem to recognise this are Ferguson and Winter, but at least you could see why the former was so upset. Carragher appeared, let’s just say that, to get away with a professional foul, and the mitigating circumstances were not all that different to the incident at Old Trafford last season when Nemanja Vidic saw red for bringing down Steven Gerrard.

So it is hard to understand where Winter is coming from when he describes Ferguson’s understanding of the laws as “completely inaccurate” and says it would have been “totally wrong” for Marriner to send Carragher off. Especially when he backs up this black and white view of the matter by suggesting that Owen was neither in full control of the ball nor moving towards the goal.

In both cases, one feels, that would be because Carragher was climbing all over him. While Ferguson has undoubtedly given more or less blameless referees some undeserved gyp this season, at least at Anfield you could understand his train of thought. It is just a pity the refereeing fraternity, or part of it, now see him as a serial moaner who deserves to be banned from stadiums.

That would be a shame, because his touchline fury over Marriner’s perceived leniency was the undoubted highlight of Sunday’s viewing, even allowing for the subtle strength with which Fernando Torres showed Rio Ferdinand who was boss.

Winter had something to say about that too, worrying that Ferguson could be getting a little old for shouting and swearing and getting so annoyed that the veins stand out on his neck. Indeed he is, but what can he do now Roy Keane and Jaap Stam are long departed and Gary Neville can only attempt to communicate his fury from the bench?

Could it be that Ferguson has been extra grumpy this season because he no longer has a team full of snarlers? Even last season he had Cristiano Ronaldo to leave no one in any doubt that just about every decision that went against United was the wrong one. From quiet man Edwin van der Sar in goal to the now saintly Ryan Giggs on the wing, United’s team at the moment is a collection of choirboys compared to some of the sides Ferguson has put out. Ferdinand and Vidic have lost most of the authority they used to exude and are far too accommodating to opposing forwards, Paul Scholes has calmed down as much as he has slowed down and Dimitar Berbatov has never been known to say boo to a goose.

Wayne Rooney is the only one with the old spark and fight, and even he is constantly being told to keep his temper and watch his language. They do say that teams play in their manager’s image, but this one doesn’t. The Red Devils need a bit more devil. It shouldn’t just be the manager’s job to make Manchester United unpopular. Maybe that’s what’s been bothering Ferguson all season. He’s probably wishing he had signed Craig Bellamy when he had the chance.

• Official sent off Scholes and Rooney at Fulham last season
• Ferguson has pleaded guilty of Wiley jibe

Phil Dowd, who angered Sir Alex Ferguson after he sent off Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney during Manchester United’s 2-0 defeat at Fulham last season, is expected to be named as the referee for United’s Premier League encounter with Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

The appointment – which is likely to be confirmed today – is sure to be noted by Ferguson, who this week pleaded guilty to a Football Association charge of improper conduct after he accused Alan Wiley of lacking the fitness to officiate when he took charge of United’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland on 3 October.

Ferguson then criticised Andre Marriner after the official failed to send off Jamie Carragher for a tackle on Michael Owen during United’s loss at Liverpool on Sunday.

The former Premier League referee Jeff Winter has defended officials in the face of Ferguson’s relentless criticism, accusing him of “not knowing the rules”.

MANCHESTER United striker Danny Welbeck is scheduled to have a scan on his knee.


Welbeck, 18, came off in the second half at Oakwell after opening the scoring in the 2-0 victory over Barnsley in the Carling Cup.

WIGAN boss Roberto Martinez has accused football authorities in England of being overawed by Sir Alex Ferguson.


Martinez believes the Manchester United boss is given too much latitude by those who run the game in England, despite Ferguson on Tuesday admitting a charge of improper conduct brought against him by the Football Association.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says defender Gary Neville’s sending off in the 2-0 Carling Cup win at Barnsley was the correct decision.

Today’s rumours are going their own way

Rumours, Fleetwood Mac’s legendary 1977 album, is a thrilling 39 minute and 12 second adventure-ride into a world seething with sexual jealousy, cocaine-addled paranoia and bad hair, which details how relationships within the band were ripped apart like foxes on a Boxing Day hunt. Like it or loathe it, the tunes are catchier than swine flu down Ewood Park way.

The Rumour Mill, guardian.co.uk’s slightly-above-par 28 October 2009 offering, is an 11-paragraph wander into the murky world of tabloid half-truths and definitely maybes, fuelled by a need for a back-page splash and perhaps one or two mid-afternoon brain bolsterers. Still, we’ve heard worse than what’s below.

No doubting the big rumour of the day: David Villa has been told “you can go your own way (go your own way)” by Valencia, with club director Fernando Gomez admitting to Spanish TV: “The club made a great effort to keep our players this summer but our economic situation remains very serious. There comes a point when you can’t stand it any more. We may have to sell Villa.” According to the Daily Mirror, Manchester United will offer Valencia £50m for Villa and his team-mate David Silva but, given Villa’s oft-stated reluctance to leave Spain and United’s unsuccessful efforts to chase the two Ronnies this summer, it’s far from a done deal.

Every manager knows that – Winston Bogarde excepted – players only love you when they’re playing, which is why Manchester City’s full-back Pablo Zabaleta, who was sent off against Wigan last month and has played just five times this season, wants out of Eastlands. Luckily for him, Juventus have put in an order for several balaclavas, a large 4×4 from a garage outside Turin and a man known only as The Driver with a view to making what the Daily Mirror calls a “£6m raid” for Zabaleta in the January transfer window.

Don’t tell Rangers fans to don’t stop thinking about tomorrow, don’t stop, it’ll soon be here, it’ll be, better than before. Because, according to today’s tabloids, Kris Boyd will leave Ibrox this summer for, naturally, Birmingham while the Sun says Gordon Strachan “is ready to take advantage of Rangers’ cash crisis with a cheeky bid for Kenny Miller”. David Dickinson masks at the ready then.

Milan Mandaric has told Edgar Davids to break the silence about his move to Leicester City. “At the moment, I’m not sure where we are with it,” Mandaric admitted. “I don’t know, nor have I been given any indication one way or the other. I’d say it’s 50-50 at the moment.”

Bolton and Celtic are hoping that FC Utrecht’s young Dutch striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel opens up because everything is waiting for him at the Reebok or Parkhead. According to the Sun, both clubs are prepared to offer £2.5m for the 20-year-old, who hit a hat-trick for Holland Under-21s earlier this month.

Milan’s poor start to the Serie A season has got them rocking and a-reeling. According to Corriere dello Sport, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Dida will leave San Siro in January, with – and you’ll like this Spurs fans – Roman Pavlyuchenko or Adriano joining when the transfer window creaks open. If it’s the latter, he’ll probably have just enough time to settle in before running off to the Rio carnival.

When times go bad, when times go rough, Germany’s biggest-selling paper Bild is always on hand to tell Bayern Munich managers they’re in trouble. And with Bayern six points off the top of the Bundesliga, and Louis van Gaal seen as “arrogant and dominant”, Bild reckons the Dutchman “might not last as long as Klinsi”. Certainly the club’s sporting director, Christian Nerlinger, is talking tough, warning: “We need some results here!”

Portsmouth fans might feel they’ve been tossed around enough in recent months, but the news isn’t getting any better. According to the Daily Mail, they’ve been hit with a transfer ban because of their outstanding debts to other English clubs.

That leads us nicely on to the news that ivory-tinkling Renaissance Man Tony Adams wants a return to management with Aldershot. Unfortunately for the failed former Wycombe and Portsmouth boss, he has 49 other applicants to deal with so he’ll probably have to pick up the pieces and go home.

Manchester United striker Michael Owen says he is bewildered by people’s expectations of him.

MANCHESTER United have been linked with a £50million swoop for Valencia’s star duo David Villa and David Silva.


The Reds were linked with the pair in the summer, and would have the funds to make a big money bid thanks to their sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £80m.

• Police called in to investigate vandalism and theft
• Carling Cup tie interrupted by two-man pitch invasion

Eight fans were arrested after trouble flared at the Barnsley v Manchester United tie last night, according to South Yorkshire Police. Catering staff were trapped inside a kiosk and had to barricade themselves in a store room for 25 minutes as fans broke in and stole cash from the till and food from the shelves.

Stewards on the pitch had food thrown at them and two fans ran on the pitch towards the end of the game. The police said: “No one was injured during this time but one officer suffered a minor facial injury. Eight fans were arrested, four Manchester United fans and four Barnsley fans.”

• Paul Wilson’s report: Barnsley 0-2 Manchester United
• Paul Doyle’s minute-by-minute report
• FA is intimidated by Ferguson, claims Martínez
• The referees who have got on Ferguson’s bad side

Police were pelted with bottles as they attempted to restore order in the north stand and police dogs were used to drive fans back from the pitch.

Around 11pm two more people were arrested after fans jumped on to railway tracks to stop the Barnsley to Sheffield train before it had started moving. Barnsley said last night they would launch an investigation, accusing United fans of causing “substantial damage” at the stadium. The club has complained to police, who are to carry out an inquiry.

A Barnsley spokesman said: “A complaint has been made to the police and we will be taking a look at CCTV footage of the incident before we can comment further.”

SIR Alex Ferguson hailed Michael Owen after the striker rolled back the years to fire United through to the last eight of the Carling Cup.


Owen produced a vintage second half strike to seal a 2-0 win against a spirited Barnsley.

FIND out how we rated the United players for their performance in the 2-0 Carling Cup win at Barnsley.

Manchester United finished with 10 men for the second time in three days but this time on the winning side, as goals from Danny Welbeck and Michael Owen ensured Carling Cup progress against Barnsley before Gary Neville was shown a straight red by Chris Foy for a reckless tackle on Adam Hammill.

“I think he followed through and caught the boy,” an unusually contrite Sir Alex Ferguson said after his captain had zeroed in on Barnsley’s only Scouser. “It wasn’t high, just above the ankle, but in the present climate I think the referee was correct.”

Ferguson is not normally one for half measures, unless he happens to owe a referee an apology, and his response to the defeat at Anfield on Sunday was no fewer than 11 changes to the starting line-up. It is impossible to swing the axe any more savagely than that, though there is always the possibility that had United won at Liverpool he would have given the whole team a rest. This is the Carling Cup, after all, and while Owen must have been delighted to start he found himself partnering Federico Macheda up front with Gabriel Obertan and Welbeck providing width on the flanks.

• United fans accused of causing chaos
• Paul Doyle’s minute-by-minute report
• FA is intimidated by Ferguson, claims Martínez
• Referees who have felt Ferguson’s wrath

The bad news for Barnsley was that a combination of three of those players that was good enough to put the visitors in front after a mere six minutes. On United’s first real attack of any note Obertan’s cross for Owen was diverted behind for a corner. Anderson clipped in a cross and Welbeck rose virtually unchallenged to score with a simple header at the near post.

Not that the home side allowed United all their own way. A promising Hammill run past Welbeck and through the heart of the United defence ended with a slightly disappointing shot too high, and when the same player sent over a corner shortly after a miss by Obertan, Stephen Foster thumped a header against his namesake Ben’s crossbar. By the time Daniel Bogdanovic rolled a cross invitingly along United’s undefended goalline on the stroke of half-time, Mark Robins’s side must have been regretting their early lapse of concentration.

All the same Barnsley took their eye off the ball again at the start of the second half and were lucky not to go two goals down straight away. You would have put money on Owen scoring once he fastened onto Welbeck’s neat through ball and stayed onside to find himself one-on-one with Luke Steele, yet by his standards the finish was a poor one, not even requiring the goalkeeper to make a save. Welbeck was withdrawn after that and his replacement, Zoran Tosic, nearly scored with his first significant touch when curling a shot inches wide from Anderson’s pass.

Barnsley’s Anderson de Silva skewed a shot wide at the other end before Owen made the game safe on the hour, taking the ball direct from Fabio da Silva’s throw-in and spinning away from one defender to give himself space then nutmegging Darren Moore and poking a low shot past Steele. “It was a fantastic goal,” Ferguson said, of the third Owen strike this season that Fabio Capello has managed to miss. “He showed good feet and it was a marvellous quick finish.”

That should have been the end of the matter but Neville made the last half hour more interesting by getting himself dismissed on 63 minutes, lunging into a tackle and catching Hammill on the shin. United are used to playing with 10 men though, and even their second-string side was not going to let a two-goal lead slip against Championship opposition, although Bogdanovic and Anderson both went close to scoring before the end and Jacob Butterfield brought a fine save from Foster.

The Tykes were not disgraced, but Robins could do with a bit more bite. “We had 17 efforts on goal, which is a lot against United, but there’s no point boasting about that when we didn’t score,” the Barnsley manager said. “We’ve got to stick the ball in the back of the net. I feel we have more in us, we were just lacking a bit of belief.”

DANNY Welbeck and Michael Owen scored to send Manchester United through to the last eight of the Carling Cup.


Welbeck headed home from close range after six minutes, and although Barnsley had some decent chances themselves, Owen’s sharply taken goal just before the hour settled matters. The one negative on the night for United was a straight red card for Gary Neville.

• They are almost apologising for punishing him, says Martínez
• Manager not expecting Ferguson to be severely sanctioned

Roberto Martínez has accused the English football authorities of being intimidated by Sir Alex Ferguson, saying that the Scot is treated differently to other managers in the game. The Wigan Athletic manager insisted that his Manchester United counterpart is allowed to get away with more than his Premier League rivals, who would be “crushed” for committing the same crimes, and is protected by a cabal of coaches who court his favour.

Ferguson has admitted a charge of improper conduct over remarks he made about the referee Alan Wiley following this month’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland at Old Trafford. He has apologised for causing Wiley “personal embarrassment” by questioning his fitness and there have been calls for him to be handed a lengthy touchline ban. He also courted controversy over his suggestion that Andre Marriner lacked the experience to referee Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Liverpool. But Martínez expressed doubts that the punishment handed down will be as severe as that meted out to other coaches, as there is little appetite for taking Ferguson to task.

“They have just sanctioned Ferguson for saying that referee was not fit enough and the truth is that they’re almost apologising to him for punishing him,” Martínez said. “Any other coach would have been crushed for that.” Asked if Ferguson dictates English football, Martínez told the Spanish paper AS: “Yes, a lot.” He added: “Ferguson has been here for a lifetime and that carries a lot of weight.”

Martínez believes that Ferguson’s position is strengthened by a group of disciples whom the Scot cultivates as loyal allies against his enemies such as the Liverpool coach, Rafael Benítez. There was a hint, too, that Martínez suspects Ferguson dangles the carrot of Old Trafford succession before the eyes of those loyal to him.

In April Ferguson attacked Benítez for having previously described David Moyes’s Everton as a “small club” and for showing “contempt” for opponents with a gesture he made on the touchline during a 4-0 victory over Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn Rovers. Allardyce complained Benítez’s gesture was humiliating – but only after Ferguson spoke out. He made no comment after the game about a signal Benítez said was a self-deprecating one to his own team.

Allardyce and Moyes are close friends of Ferguson. Moyes has been widely touted as a candidate for Ferguson’s job when he retires while Martínez believes Allardyce has designs on the post, too. “Ferguson has his group of faithfuls, people who are committed to him: Steve Bruce, who was a player with him, Sam Allardyce, who thinks he will be his successor at Old Trafford, and others,” Martínez said. “On the other side there’s Rafa Benítez and he gets attacked from all sides.”

The Football Association is being urged to commit Ferguson to an official agreement that he will curtail his criticism of referees. Ferguson has requested a personal hearing at which he will apologise again for accusing Wiley of booking players because he needed a rest from running but Alan Leighton, the national secretary of the trade union Prospect, of which referees are members, wants the FA to make an example of Ferguson.

“We welcome the fact that he [Ferguson] has admitted his guilt and hope he will now dedicate himself to furthering the Respect agenda,” said Leighton. “If I was someone on the [FA disciplinary] panel I might be asking him for a commitment not to do the same thing again.”

• FA should make example of Ferguson, says Alan Leighton
• United manager should ‘dedicate himself’ to Respect agenda

The Football Association is being urged to commit Sir Alex Ferguson to an official agreement that he will curtail his criticism of referees. Alan Leighton, the national secretary of the referees’ union, Prospect, wants Ferguson to pledge that he will stop being so outspoken after the Manchester United manager admitted a charge of improper conduct for his condemnation of Alan Wiley as not being physically fit enough to officiate in the Premier League.

Ferguson has requested a personal hearing at which he will apologise again for accusing Wiley of deliberately booking players because he needed a rest during United’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland on 3 October. No date has been set but Leighton wants the FA to make an example of Ferguson by imposing a significant ban.

“We welcome the fact that he [Ferguson] has admitted his guilt and hope he will now dedicate himself to furthering the Respect agenda,” he said. “If I was someone on the [FA disciplinary] panel I might be asking him for a commitment not to do the same thing again. It’s his prerogative to request a personal hearing and it’s up to the FA now to decide what punishment to give him.”

Ferguson was also critical of Andre Marriner’s performance in United’s 2-0 defeat at Liverpool on Sunday but Leighton believes referees are getting more credit from other managers. “We have noticed that some of the managers are now discussing the referee’s performances in more measured tones and in a constructive way,” he added.

We take a look at the Premier League’s men in the middle who have been given a good tongue-lashing by Sir Alex Ferguson

You don’t need to press refresh for the latest updates but you do need to email paul.doyle@guardian.co.uk with your musings or else. Plus here’s the live scoreboard for all tonight’s games

Teams:
Barnsley: Steele, Kozluk, Moore, Foster, Julian Gray, De Silva, Colace, Hallfredsson, Hammill, Macken, Bogdanovic.
Subs: Preece, Campbell-Ryce, Hume, Hassell, Butterfield, Thompson, Devaney.

Man Utd: Foster, Neville, Brown, Jonathan Evans,
Fabio Da Silva, Obertan, Rafael Da Silva, Anderson, Welbeck,
Macheda, Owen.
Subs: Amos, Tosic, O’Shea, De Laet, Corry Evans, King, James.

The person Fergie will probably blame in case of defeat: Chris Foy (Merseyside)

Preamble:
If today the football world is having to contemplate equipping referees with Taser guns before any match in which they may be exposed to Sir Alex Ferguson, it is partially because of a famous goal scored by Mark Robins a million years ago, without which the fiery Scot would probably have been extinguished as Manchester United manager, and Eric Djemba-Djemba would never have become a profligate multi-millionaire. How poignant, then, that as Ferguson’s reign at Old Trafford creeps to an end, Robins’ men could precipitate the decline, albeit only slightly, with a win here tonight. It’s not very likely, of course - after all, United are fielding a decent team by Carling Cup standards, with fairly established stars such as Evans and Anderson reinforcing up-and-coming reserves such as Macheda, Owen and Neville.

7:30pm: “Why don’t the Premier League just deduct an aggregate fine from United every year and give Ferguson an extra 10 minutes of referee shouting time between halves?” perorates Shreerang Sarpontdar. “It’s getting tiresome to click Yes on the Guardian polls every week. You could probably do a Joy of Six on this one. And re: knighthoods, can they take it away if the knighted keeps being such a berk?” Knock him back to plain old Monsieur Ferguson? But then he’d be at risk of being confused with a leading tractor manufacturer.

7:32pm: Those of you who are not incorrigible cretins will have deduced from the team-sheets that Obertan is starting. Folks in France were amazed at that £3m signing - Obertan is technically very gifted but he failed to develop at Bordeaux, and after two loan spells at other clubs appeared to have regressed - it will be interesting to see whether he can improve at United. “What are the latest odds on Sir Alex’s nose exploding before he leaves Man United?” sputters Colin Greer.

7:35pm: Sky’s guest pundit tonight is everyone’s favourite sample of Barnsley-Ireland synergy, Mick McCarthy. With characteristic bluntness, he has just admitted that he’s never heard of Obertan.

7:39pm: “So three right backs and a right winger for United,” sleuths Phil Harrison. “Just as long as Barnsley don’t attempt to pass it down the middle where United appear to have, er, just Anderson.”

1 min: United kick-off and immediately tear forward, but Welbeck soon gives the ball away.

2 mins: Kozluk floats in a freekick from half-way and two Barnsley players challenge Foster for the ball. In a shock development, the keeper holds on to it.

4 mins: Following Phil Harrison’s previous point, I should tell you that Rafael da Silva is accompanying Anderson in central midfield.

5 mins: Evans snuffs out a Barnsley break and then finds Macheda wide on the left with a fine long pass. It took two defenders to bundle the ball out of play for a corner. Moore clears that more effectively.

6 mins: Obertan swaps slick passes with R Da Silva down the left and crosses to the near post, where Owen’s header is deflected over the bar for another corner.

GOAL! Barnsley 0-1 United (Welbeck 6′) Anderson delivers a corner to the near post and Welbeck easily eludes Gray to nod the ball into the net from close range. All too simple for United.

8 mins: As is to be expected, United are a class above their opponents, who are struggling to even get a touch.

10 mins: That was an exquisite long pass from Anderson. Welbeck’s immaculate control did it full justice but the striker should then have rolled the ball to the unmarked Michael Owen in front of goal, rather than shoot from an acute angle. Saved by Steele.

12 mins: Nothing else having come anywhere close to working so far, Barnsley attempt a long hoof forward to Bogdanovic. Foster comes to claim. “Why is the Grauniad so formal?” asks Mr Adam Roberts. “Most people refer to our pormising Northern Irishman as Jonny; you however go for Jonathan Evans. Why?” Because I cut and pasted the teams directly from the the news wires.

15 mins: Hammill skips past Welbeck down the left and then experiences the feeling that commentators are under strict instructions to refer to as “a rush of blood to the head”. Accordingly, he curls the ball miles over the bar from 30 yards. “I used to go to school with Luke Steele’s older brother,” yahoos Robbie Price. “Luke was the youngest of three so they made him play in goal. Every time. His brother is now a P.E teacher at our old school.”

18 mins: A swift and incisive United move in which the impressive Welbeck was instrumental comes to an end when Obertan’s shot is blocked by Steele. “I would like to advise everyone to look at this picture of Sir Alex Ferguson,” toots Neil Day.

20 mins: Anderson De Silva tries a hopeful punt from distance, but it trickles wide. “What a coincidence,” yelps Howard Clark. “A former great Man Utd goalkeeping prospects at either end … who’s next?”

22 mins: The home crowd exults as Macken wins Barnsley their first corner of the game. And it very nearly yielded a goal! Bogdanovich met it powerfully six yards out but his header skinned the outside of the post.

24 mins: That last chance has emboldened Barnsley, who have shifted into a higher gear and are starting to trouble United. Again they came close from a corner, Stephen Foster rising unchallenged to headed wide. United’s shoddy defending goes unpunished, for now.

26 mins: Gray wins another corner for Barnsley and again Foster meets it without any difficulty. Again, however, he fails to direct his header on target.

28 mins: Barnsley are hustling United relentlessly now, preventing them from making any sorties towards the home team’s box. But United are in no rush and are happy to circulate the ball among their back four.

30 mins: Another menacing break by Barnsley, who tore past Welbeck and F Da Silva down the left. But again composure is glaringly absent at the crucial moment, and they scuff the final ball, leaving Hammill straining to attempt a header from 15 yards. The target remains untouched. “Here’s an interesting statistic given how rubbish United look trying to defend corners tonight,” blathers Peter Corway. “United are the only team in the Premier League not to concede a goal from a set-piece so far this season.” I can’t remember all the goals they’ve let in this season so someone else put him straight if he’s lying.

33 mins: Welbeck performs an ostentatious backheel, straight into touch.

35 mins: Barnsley win another corner and because they have had so much joy from the previous three … they elect to take this one short, and make a summer frolicks of it. I believe that is the correct rhyming slang.

37 mins: De Silva booked for barging into Foster after the keeper had caught a cross. Seems a bit severe from the ref - obviously such decisions are not motivated by a fear of being publicly abused by Ferguson.

40 mins: After being over-run in the first minutes Barnsley have come into this game a lot more, and United are looking quite barren when in possession. Owen and Macheda have hardly had a touch in the last while. Ditto Welbeck. Obertan has seen a bit of the ball but failed to do anything that sticks in the memory.

43 mins: Barnsley produce their best move of the match, cutting through United with speed and skill. All that was missing was a decisive last touch, as no one could get on the end of Colace’s tantalising low pass across the face of goal. “I like Danny Welbeck,” confesses Jon Cummins. “I think he has the potential to be a future English International, but his brazen stealing of Usain Bolt’s signature celebration reminds me of when Liam Gallacher started pretending he was John Lennon. How about you actually do something before you start ripping off the fastest man in the history of the world, Danny?” Does a routine Carling Cup goal against lower league Barnsley not count as ’something’? That at least entitles him to rip off the celebration of, say, Eddie the Eagle? Or didn’t he ever have a celebration?

Half-time: “Please mention Mikey Owen,” begs Duncan mcVerry. “Your refusal to do so to date is very unfair.” I have mentioned Owen a couple of times, Duncan, and have not mentioned Porcupine Tree’s enchanting new album, The Incident, even once. When you consider that the latter has had about as much influence on the game as the former, you might like to reassess your view as to who is being unfairly treated.

A question from the ether: “How does Rafael look after two months away?” quizzes Charles Kerr. “Is Fabio still being posted all the way up at midfield? I can’t imagine this group will be able to keep Barnsley, or anyone else, off the scoreboard.” An answer from th e chancer: Rafael has been so-so. Both he and Anderson have faded after bright starts as Barnsley have taken a degree of control of midfield. Not an especially bnig degree, mind. Fabio is at left-back, Welbeck in front of him. A Barnsley equaliser is a definite possibility, but they’ll need to put on their shooting boots or, given that most of their opportunities have been headers, their shooting, um, hairbands.

“On the topic of the lesser copying celebrations of the greater, does anyone remember the aftermath of the 1986 World Cup where Careca’s aeroplane celebration was adopted by Wimbledon’s John Fashanu?” asks Michael Gibbons. “I guess both were internationals though, inexplicably so in the case of the future Gladiators host.” And that wasn’t even Fashanu’s worst use of his arms, eh.

46 mins: Straight from kick-off Barnsley boot the ball long. A sign of a new approach?

48 mins: Gray robs Macheda, who, like Owen, has seen very little action over the last half and hour at least. United can’t get them into the game any more.

49 mins: Naturally, after my last entry it was inevitable that United would create an opening for one of their centre-forwards. It was Welbeck who did it, a nifty through-ball for Owen, whose laughably feeble finish when one-on-one ensured my face remained mercifully egg-free. His finishes against Wigan and City were fine, but his ratio of chances-to-goals this season has got to be very low.

51 mins: Fabio dithers at the back and is thus beaten to the ball by Macken, who pings in an excellent cross. But none of his team-mates anticipated it.

53 mins: Welbeck, by far the most lively of United’s offensive players, finds Owen with a cute pass. Owen’s attempted return is ugly.

54 mins: United substitution: Welbeck does not appear to have any physical problem but surely given his display an injury is the only explanation for his premature departure. On comes Tosic in his stead.

55 mins: Bogdanovich scoots down the right and then pulls a nice ball back to Anderson, who drags his shot wide from 16 yards.

58 mins: Tosic makes a clever run across the Barnsley defence and Anderson spots him. The Serbian collects the ball, turns sharply and then attempts to send a curler into the top corner from 20 yards. He misses by inches. About 176 inches. But the intent was admirable.

GOAL! Barnsley 0-2 United (Owen 59′) Little Mickey’s shots-to-goals ratio has just improved, and in splendid style to boot. He received the ball from Anderson some 25 yards from goal, and with three players around him. He spun nimbly, poked it through Moore’s legs and outran the others before poking the ball expertly past the keeper from 15 yards. You can’t argue with that.

62 mins: More Fergie ref-bashing ahoy? Gary Neville has been sent off! I’ll need to see a replay of that challenge - he appeared to win the ball off Hammill and then follow through into the players’ shins. “Eddie Edwards celebrated with a gurn and a wipe of his NHS specs,” recalls Ben Dunne. “But where did the good old days of abject celebrations go? The Ravanelli, The Lee Sharpe Elvis-with-corner-flag, and the two-mincers-mincing-at-a-wedding-disco dance of Ince and Giggs? I think Shearer’s raised hand ruined invention.”

64 mins: Neville was most displeased by ref’s decision and appeared to consider organising a protest march off some sort before finally quitting the pitch. Moments later Brown gives the ball away at the back but Bogdanovich shot too hastily, firing way wide from 25 yards.

66 mins: “Call that a red card?” fumes Mahir Ibrahim. “It’s definitely a conspiracy, how can you watch your mouth if your Sir Alex? Poor Refereeing.” Well, I’ve seen a replay now and believe it was a justified expulsion. I don’t know whether Neville deliberately followed through after winning the ball but there is no doubt that his studs collided with Hammill’s shin with considerable force, which is plainly dangerous and forbidden.

66 mins: United change: Owen off, De Laet on. Perhaps Fergie’s reasoning is that it’s better De Laet than Neville?

69 mins: Bogdanovich is allowed to take down a long ball from the back. He holds off Evans and then feeds the over-lapping Evans, who gives it back to him. Foster then touches the striker’s shot around the post for a corner. Again Barnsley win the corner easily but the header from six yards drops wide - this game would have been very different if the home team had taken their chances. “The mid-90s does seem to have been a golden age for elaborate celebrations,” opines Tim bailey. “At school once, during a mandatory dance lesson that was inexplicably part of the P.E. curriculum, my friends and I performed a sensational medley of celebrations, complete with the Match of the Day theme in the background. The climax was a synchronised Klinsmann dive onto a crashmat. The teacher didn’t really know what to think of such avant-garde movements as The Sharpey Shuffle, and so awarded us a “C” for achievement but “A” for effort.” Was this before all school kids posted their every move online? Or is there footage of this japery available on YouTube?

72 mins: Hume fails to get in a cross after working his way into a promising position. Meanwhile, Neil Smith raises an important question: “Assuming Neville get’s a three match ban, who will ostentatiously warm up on the touchline and berate the linesman now? Is one of the Da Silva twins ready for the role?”

74 mins: Hammill tricks his way past Evans brilliantly, but then sidefoots a weak shot straight at Foster. Their finishing is what has cost them tonight and no mistake. “I don’t think that Neville followed through with much force at all, but these days just the fact of tackling with studs up is a yellow card, and actually making contact is a red,” sobs John Barry. “As a United fan, I obviously feel that it was a terrible and unjust decision, but it wasn’t really. It was a red and now they just have to start playing more solidly and stop giving the ball freely to Barnsley.”

77 mins: Hume curls in a freekick from the right. Evans heads it out. Elsewhere, there is little sympathy for Gary Neville. “As I United fan I feel no hesitation in saying that Gary Neville is an idiot,” hollers Simon Horwell. “His celebration in the Manchester Derby was embarrassing, his form has been woeful for about 3 years and his tackle tonight was pointless. His only value to the squad is as a mentor for the younger players and as an experienced head. So in that regard it is a shocking dereliction of duty tonight. He should do us all a favour and hurry up and retire.” Are all United fans so sentimental.

79 mins: No complaints about Barnsley’s finishing that time - instead it was a top-notch save from Foster that denied Butterfield after the substitute glided past Brown and let fly from the edge of the box.

81 mins: Barnsley are having all of the ball as 10-man United are content to sit back and hope the home team continue to miss chances. “You’re right about Owen’s chance conversion rate, it is very poor since he pulled on a United shirt, and yet the Sky pundit was in raptures at his goal tonight, saying that’s why he should be on the plane to South Africa,” froths Michael Gibbons. “I find this tide of goodwill towards Owen going to the World Cup from players-turned-pundits incredible - how many golf buddies does the man have?”

83 mins: Anderson cynically trips Campbell-Ryce as he threatened to infiltrate the United box. A deserved booking. Hume balloons the freekick over the bar. “Simon Horwell, do us all a favour and go and ’support’ someone else,” barks Leon Davies. “The Nev is, and will always be, a legend.” Roland Marshall adds: “Gary Neville has been absent injured for almost two of the three years during which he has supposedly been woeful according to the insightful and not at all jonny-cum-lately numpty-esque Simon Horwell.”

86 mins: Foster botches an attempted kicked clearance, gifting the ball to Butterfield. Again Barnsley fail to take advantage. Do that against a better team and Foster will be punished, as per previous blunders.

87 mins: Long-range shot from Anderson. Comfortable save for Steele. “Adam Hammill – the guy who Neville clattered into – is a Scouser, and is on loan to Barnsley from Liverpool,” notes Andrew McNab tellingly. “Need I say more as to why Neville did what he did?”

88 mins: Tosic booked for a late tackle on some Barnsley bloke in midfield.

90 mins: Hammill, Barnsley’s best player tonight, forces Brown into the concession of a corner. But then botches his delivery. As Foster prepares to take the goal kick, two funsters run on to the pitch and exchange quick passes before the fatter of the pair boots the ball into the net! “Fergie, sign him up!” chant the travelling fans. And with that, the interlopers skedaddle back into the stands, rotund stewards panting after them.

Full-time: United canter through to the last eight. They took the lead early on and then never had to get out of first gear, partially because of Barnsley’s woeful finishing. Consult the Guardian later to find out how Ferguson reacted to Gary Neville’s deserved red card.

Sir Alex prepares to face Mark Robins, the man feted for saving his job.

• Manchester United manager criticised Alan Wiley’s fitness
• Ferguson requests personal hearing from FA

The Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has accepted the FA’s charge of improper conduct following his comments on the fitness of the referee Alan Wiley.

Ferguson, who criticised Wiley following his team’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland at Old Trafford on 3 October, has requested a personal hearing. The date for that has yet to be decided.

• Were Ferguson’s comments excessive? Have your say
• Sir Alex does not know the law, referees claim
• Evra frustrated by United’s poor attitude at Anfield

After the Sunderland match, Ferguson said: “The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. He was not fit. You see referees abroad who are as fit as butchers’ dogs. He was taking 30 seconds to book a player. He was needing a rest. It was ridiculous.” He has since apologised for causing Wiley “personal embarrassment”.

The 67-year-old has faced calls for him to be given a lengthy touchline ban by the referees’ union Prospect as a consequence of the comments. He has also been criticised for failing to understand the laws of the game by the former Premier League referee Jeff Winter.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has accepted a charge of improper conduct following his comments on the fitness of referee Alan Wiley.


Ferguson, who criticised Wiley following his team’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland at Old Trafford on October 3, has requested a personal hearing. The date for that has yet to be decided.

United are heading to Oakwell for the first time since May 1998.

Betfair have all the odds covered ahead of United’s trip to Oakwell.