Kyle and Yolkie discuss the results against Birmingham and Sunderland, the upcoming games against West Brom and Stoke, the potential of players to break into the team in the second half of the season and the sacking of Darren Ferguson at Preston.
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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that he will not be buying anyone in the January transfer window, but has stated that Federico Macheda could well go out on loan following the successful stints of Welbeck and Diouf and Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers respectfully. Many Reds still believe that United are in need of a creative outlet from midfield if indeed the club are to challenge on both a domestic and European front.
As the calendar year comes to an end, The Gaffer, Kyle, Yolkie and I sat round a log fire sipping mulled wine and eating leftover mince pies to share our best player, goal and match of 2010…
On behalf of Stretford-End, I would like to wish a very happy birthday to Manchester United’s longest-serving manager. Sir Alex Ferguson will celebrate his 69th birthday today. His appetite for success certainly hasn’t diminished with age as he continues to chase glory both domestically and in Europe. Sir Alex once said in an interview, “my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their fucking perch.” Leading United to record 19th league title at the age of 69 would do exactly that.
Another dreaded away fixture. Manchester United have only won once in eight Premier League away fixtures this season, but Saturday’s trip to West Brom will provide yet another opportunity to improve that record. United’s poor away form hasn’t prevented them from starting the New Year atop the Premier League table though. However, if United are to claim a record 19th league title their away form will need to improve. Sir Alex Ferguson celebrates his 69th birthday the day before this game, and the least this squad can do is get him a rare three points away from home as a gift.
As you may have read in our review of 2010, we are continuing our embrace with technology by becoming the first Manchester United blog to announce a free to download “Webzine” with the first issue due for release in January. The webzine will include interviews, unique content from the website, as well as all of our best blogs from the previous month too.
We will be publishing contributions from our readers, too - in our first issue, we’re asking for your stories about how you managed to convince your other half to support United. For a chance to get your own tale included, just post it in the comments, or alternatively, post it on our forum and discuss with our growing community.
Also, feel free to make suggestions for topics you’d like to hear the Stretty Rant teams opinions on.
Stretford-End.com takes a look back at 2010. It would be easy to spend all our time patting ourselves on the back after a fantastic year for the site but we have never been ones to stand still. In this piece we’ll have a slight moment of reflection to acknowledge all that we achieved in the last 12 months, and our look back at the best of 2010, before having a look at our pre-season predictions and how we’re faring up and concluding with a look at what’s to come in 2011.
Birmingham 1-1 Manchester United
The last three days have summed up United’s season – comfortable at home but edgy away. Though there were more than enough reasons to be aggrieved at this result, and though it could be argued despite a generally lacklustre display Sir Alex Ferguson’s men had done enough within the laws of the game to earn three points, it was clear that the Red Devils will leave St Andrews with a lingering feeling that they could have done more.
The festive program continues today with Manchester United’s trip to Birmingham City. This is the second match of three in a week period, and rotation will be crucial if United are to come away with maximum points. United sit top of the table ahead of the visit to St. Andrew’s and it goes without saying that three points would further secure their position in first place. Birmingham are hovering just above the relegation zone, but as with all matches this is not one to be taken lightly.
The two teams “hardest to beat” in the Premier League went head to head at Old Trafford; Manchester United won with a Dimitar Berbatov brace as an early onslaught never materialised into the goals it threatened, to stay two points clear of Manchester City having played 2 games fewer – and, significantly, 5 and 6 points ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea respectively with the London clubs set to face off against each other tomorrow.
