Scholes and Neville: Should Fergie let them leave?

Paul Scholes recently confirmed what some fans had suspected was the case for a while, that is sometimes his legs do not do as they are told to do; it happens to all players no matter how great you have been, as is the case the with the affectionately known Ginger Prince. It is the same story as far as Gary Neville is concerned, he is fighting the unwinnable fight against the clock, as both players are now in their mid-thirties, so it was interesting to read that several clubs including Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Bolton are being linked with these United legends.

Perhaps Fergie believes that loyalty to one club should be rewarded by allowing them to bow-out at the top and at the club they have stayed with throughout their professional careers, because these days that is a rarity.

The fans won't have a problem with whatever the manager and players decide regarding their futures, but you do wonder if these born winners will be able to live with being bit-part players while they see out the remainder of their time at Old Trafford.

There is an argument that has been used by Ferguson in the past that retaining older playing staff blocks the progression of younger stars in the making - ironically this was the reasoning used by the manager when selling many a big name player to make way for the team that became known as "Fergies Fledglings", one that included the Neville brothers and Paul Scholes. Despite those concerns, my own view is Fergie will remain loyal to those who have given such great service to United, but it remains to be seen if the players concerned will still be here come the beginning of the new season because professional pride is at stake.

Micah Richards injury good news for Gary Neville? And why he may sign for Chelsea...

England manager Steve McClaren and Man City fans will be desperately hoping that Micah Richards knee injury which he sustained against Bolton during the Blues Carling Cup win isn't that serious. The young defender is set to have a scan on Thursday.

However, with Gary Neville set to return to action for United this week, it could well be a case of good timing as far as England are concerned as they still have a glimmer of hope of qualifying for the Euro 2008 finals if results go their way, for that to happen Israel need to draw with Russia and England need to beat Croatia.

Neville has been out for a long time though and he will no doubt need a few games under his belt before he gets back to something like full match-fitness. McClaren might well decide not to take any chances on either player if there's any doubt and if that's the case he could well opt to play Wes Brown or even Phil Neville at right back.

A lot fans and the media have been waxing lyrical about Richards since he burst onto the scene, many advocate that his best position is in the centre of defence where he plays for City. Personally, I'm not so sure about that. Against Arsenal recently at the Emirates stadium Van Persie gave him a lot to think about and eventually started to pull the strings which led to victory and against Chelsea at the weekend City were destroyed by Drogba et al.

From what I've seen, Richards has a lot to learn about playing in the centre of defence, all too often he relies on his pace to get him out of trouble on those occasions when he finds himself on the wrong side of forwards. This ok in the Premier League because Richards will get away with it most of the time, but at international level, he wont get away it. Against Russia recently in that 2-1 defeat, Richards played right-back and at times he was given the run-around by the hugely impressive Andrei Arshavin (were you watching Fergie?).

We all know what a talent Richards is, but he's by no means the finished article.
Regarding his future, City have been desperately trying to persuade the player to sign a new and improved contract. There's been a lot of rumours that he will end up signing for either Arsenal or United. Personally I don't see that happening. For one thing, Wenger would not pay silly money for a defender, no matter how good he is. City would not allow Richards to join the Reds - end of story.

That would leave only Chelsea or perhaps Liverpool. For me, if he doesn't sign that new deal, the only place he can go is Chelsea, who may well be soon ready to replace John Terry who is picking up far too many injuries of late.

Ronaldo's bold prediction while Gary Neville is set to return...

We are not yet out of October and already Cristiano Ronaldo is predicting that United will retain the Premier League title and that the reds will go on to become the Champions of Europe for the third time. There's no doubting that United could go on to fulfil both predictions, but in order to do so Fergie will need a fair bit of luck in avoiding injuries to key players.

It wasn't so long ago that the Reds were deprived of all of their first-choice central defenders due to injury. Saha is another who seems to be almost permanently on the treatment table.

Those will elephant like memories will no doubt be able to recall former United striker 'Pancho Pearson' who always seemed to sustain hamstring injuries - though it's doubtful that Saha will ever be a massive fans favourite as the former Reds number nine was back in Tommy Doc's days as United manager. We will settle for the Frenchman being fit and available for the remainder of the campaign, because make no mistake we will need him.

On the subject of forwards, I mentioned earlier on in the week that Fergie must be planning to sign a new striker, not least because Ole has had to sadly call it a day. Anelka's name keeps on cropping up in reports, but with Bolton in such a dire state, it makes you wonder if they'd allow him to leave in January. There is of course the added problem that whoever Fergie signs will have to be available for the Champions League, Anelka has played in Europe this season already and wouldn't that make him cup-tied?

How about pushing out the boat by making Sunderland an offer that the Black-Cats cannot refuse for Kenwyne Jones? He is the nearest thing that I've seen to Drogba. His powerful style would give United a different option to the subtle inter-play that we're currently enjoying between Rooney and Tevez.

It's doubtful that Sunderland would allow the Trinidad and Tobago star to leave under any circumstances, given that he alone will more or less guarantee the club's safety in the top flight. Make no mistake though, Jones is going to be very hot property and so it is only a matter of time before stories linking him to the big four clubs start to make the back pages. Don't rule out United trying to broker some sort of player plus cash deal. Keane remains a big fan of young Reds defender Jonny Evans and there's talk of him going back on loan to Sunderland, United also have fringe midfield players like Fletcher and so just maybe there's a deal to be done for Jones.

Regarding Ronaldo's bold prediction, Owen Hargreaves is another key player and if he can keep fit, he could quickly form an excellent central midfield partnership with the hugely impressive Anderson in the Red Devils engine-room. United currently have Park and Scholes out injured and the latter is still obviously a hugely influential star, but of course the injury to the 'Ginger Prince' has given opportunities to Anderson and the returning Hargreaves to gel to together - so it isn't all bad.

Meanwhile there's some great news to report on our very own 'shop steward' one Gary Neville who has been out injured since last season. Despite Gary being out for so long, no other United player has laid claim to his place in the team, but Wes Brown has been doing an excellent job of late, so it looks like Neville's right-back slot is still very much his own if he can stay fit.