Doc has a pop at Berbatov

Tommy Docherty has branded Dimitar Berbatov's move to Manchester United a 'disaster'.

Speaking on Tuesday on Five Live ahead of United's Champions League draw with Porto, the former Red Devils boss said the striker has not lived up to expectations at Old Trafford.

But while Docherty might have been unnecessarily harsh on the Bulgarian frontman, I think it's fair to say the majority of fans were expecting more from United's record signing.

Berbatov arrived from Spurs for a record £30.75million in September and while he was not expected to show the same desire and work-rate of fellow forwards Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez, I was expecting him to have more of an impact with the champions.

The former Spurs man - who is currently sidelined with an ankle injury - has scored 13 goals in 33 starts this term and while he has shown touches on genius, on too many other occasions he has been a passenger.

Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko has labelled Berbatov an 'arrogant snob', but Sir Alex has continued - as predicted - to back the 28-year-old.

"He is a different type of player to what we had last season," Fergie said last month.

"He has a patience and composure in the last third of the field that is helping us.

"That is quite a number of winning goals for us now.

"Eric Cantona used to score important goals as well and if he keeps on scoring important goals then it is an emphatic result for us."

For many fans the jury's still out on Berbatov and while his languid style will never please eveyone, with crunch games looming it's certainly time for Berbatov to come to the fore and score some big goals - just like Eric did.

It certainly wouldn't be wise for those interested in football betting to go against the striker hitting top form when it really matters.

By Phil Tomlinson