Veloso transfer tapping-up 'row' storm in a teacup?

Reports claim that United's chances of signing Miguel Veloso have been damaged because Sporting Lisbon are upset about Carlos Queiroz speaking publicly about the Reds interest in the player. Fergie's assistant manager did not, as far as I recall, say that the player would soon become United player, Queiroz was merely responding to a question from a journalist about the club's reported interest. Perhaps Queiroz could have been more tactful by avoiding giving a direct answer, but having already received £30m plus from United for Ronaldo and Nani, it seems unlikely that Sporting would turn down a big offer for another of their young stars should Ferguson press home his reported interest next summer. Judging by his own comments, Miguel Veloso clearly wants to come to United which always helps to oil the transfer wheels.

Weekend of contrasting fortunes for two of Manchester's finest...

It was another one of those very wet weekends in Manchester, and one of contrasting fortunes for two of the city's finest sons, for both it will be one which will never be forgotten, but for very different reasons.

For Ricky 'The Hitman' Hatton it was a case of tasting defeat for the first time in 44 professional fights as he was knocked-out in Las Vegas by Floyd Mayweather Jr. In the wake of Hatton's first defeat, respected voices within boxing circles are telling the Hitman to retire. By all accounts, the step up in class and weight was a step too far for the little man from Hattersley who says that his pride more than the punches has been hurt.

Meanwhile 12 hours previously and five thousand miles away in the rainy city, the adopted son of Manchester that is Ryan Giggs celebrated his 100th league goal on Saturday for the Reds as the Champions narrowed the gap to just one point at the top of the table when they brushed aside relegation candidates Derby County 4-1.

Cristiano Ronaldo denied Carlos Tevez the opportunity of scoring a hatrick as the Portuguese winger scored late on from the penalty-spot after being hacked down on a rain sodden Old Trafford pitch. Before that Tevez scored in either half with two well taken goals, his first was similar to the Giggs opener in that both players were in the right place to capitalise on any openings when lurking on the edge of the visitors six-yard-box. It was a case of perfect timing and positioning for the Welshman and the Argentine.

In his post match interview, Fergie said that he wasn't totally happy with the Reds passing, but given the state of the pitch he was rightly very satisfied with the victory - nothing less was expected given the Rams plight.

However, while this fixture may well have looked easy on paper, Premier League games of this nature can turn out to be a case of 'sheep to the slaughter' for the visitors or they can be coupon busting disappointments as was the case when Sunderland took a point off United a couple of seasons ago during that woeful campaign which ended with the Black Cats being relegated.

One player who has seen it all before is Ryan Giggs. The Welshman has divided opinion among fellow Reds on his undoubted abilities like no other United player that I can recall in recent times. Throughout his United career Giggs has often been quite brilliant but also very frustratingly annoying on other occasions. What is beyond doubt is the Welshman's sublime record.

Apart from this glittering collection of silverware, Giggsy has several lesser known claims to fame, such as he remains the Premier League's all time top goalscorer for a none striker. He scored the United's quickest ever goal against Southampton (15 seconds) against Southampton in 1995.

United fans voted his FA Cup semi-final replay match winner as the Reds greatest ever goal when he beat four Arsenal defenders (Lee Dixon twice) along the way.

The Welshman has the privilege of being the only player in the Premier League to have been named in an episode of the Simpsons.

To date Giggsy has scored 144 goals for the Reds from 731 games and he has 284 assists. Ryan very nearly made it 145 United goals against the Rams on Saturday with a wonderful second-half left foot effort that just went beyond the far post. Long may it continue.

United fans will have many fond memories of their top Giggs moments. What in your view is his most important league goal? Ryan scored a match winning brace late on against Southampton when the Reds were one down as Fergie side eventually ran out 2-1 winners in a game of huge importance in that defining season of 1993 when United ended that 26 year wait to finally secure the league title.

Fergie set for transfer swoop?

With the transfer window set to open, reports are linking United with two left-backs, the latest name to emerge is Branislav Ivanovic (23). the Serbian defender is currently playing for Lokomotiv Moscow, reports claim the fee could be as much as £10m which seems like an awful lot of money for a fullback (we will always make comparisons to Dennis Irwin who cost the club buttons to sign but went to on to become a red legend). Ivanovic is under contract until December 2011 and it's thought that Fergie will no doubt have consulted Vidic on his fellow Serb who is another international.

The Reds have also been linked to Reading's Nicky Shorey who is apparently stalling on signing a new deal. Shorey has 18 months remaining on contract.

Should Rob Styles be rested again?...

Referee Rob Styles has landed himself in another controversy following his decision not to award Manchester United a penalty when Cristiano Ronaldo was brought down by Fulham keeper Niemi on Monday night. The Reds eventually ran out two-nil winners courtesy of a well taken Ronaldo brace. Ronaldo was on a hatrick when the former Saints keeper brought him down inside the box - it was a clear penalty - yet Styles booked Ronaldo for diving.

As a result of the yellow card the Portuguese winger now faces a possible suspension at some stage in the season. Ronaldo made the mistake of applauding Styles for the poor decision and no doubting the FA will take the easy way out by saying the player had been booked for dissent which was not the case as the referee had already brandished his yellow card before the winger reacted.

This latest incident comes on the back of another recent poor Styles display in the game between Liverpool and Chelsea after which the referee was 'rested' for poor decision making. In that game Styles wrongly awarded a very soft penalty to Chelsea.

The FA set a precedent by punishing Styles and having done so, there needs to be some consistency. Which raises the question should Styles be rested again? If the FA has a grain of sense they will strike-off Ronaldo's yellow card as the result was not affected by the none award of the penalty - the real damage was the yellow card and surely there has to be some sympathy for the player on this occasion given it was a blatant spot-kick.

This latest decision must be a concern for all concerned because clearly this was another easy to decision to make and yet again Styles got it completely wrong. Earlier on in the week Fergie stated that he fears standards of refereeing are in decline, after this latest howler many will agree.

Mourinho to United anyone?

The other day I posted an article on Jose Mourinho about him being linked to the vacant England manager's position, there's been plenty of speculation suggesting that former Chelsea boss wants the job. As ever though, the truth of the matter is that the media hasn't got a clue as to what Mourinho's true intentions are. Some reports claim that the 'special one' is using his fawning friends in the press and the gullible FA to flush out interest from Italy's top clubs. This is a plausible suggestion in my view as Mourinho surely isn't daft enough to be tempted into the taking the poisoned chalice that is the England job.

Mourinho we are led to believe cannot coach in England for a couple of years, which would rule him out of taking over from Fergie should he suddenly throw in the towel after United lift the Champions League next May. It could happen. If it did happen, those who are charged with replacing Fergie, namely the Glazers - who by the way were subjected to a ketchup sauce attack in Manchester by disgruntled fans this week - would have the massive task of finding the right man to replace him.

If he's not already in harness at a big Italian club, then surely Mourinho would have to be in the frame. But would United and the fans want him? I have my doubts personally. Sure Jose is a winner, but his philosophy doesn't match United's best traditions of playing attacking football. Jose's teams win, but often it can be ugly, which is still in evidence at his former club when the Blues revert to route one football lumping the ball onto the granite forehead of Didier Drogba as they did against West Ham at the weekend.

A more likely destination if Mourinho does return to manage in England is Liverpool, which is a move that has been mooted in the press of late. My personal view is that Mark Hughes will become the Reds next manager.

It's Aston Villa v United in the 3rd round of the FA Cup again...

United fans will be reasonably happy on hearing the news that the Reds have been drawn against in-form Aston Villa in the third round of the FA Cup. The champions demolished Villa 4-1 at Villa Park in October, but Martin O'Neill is doing a fine job and his young team are a match for anyone in the Premier League as they showed against Arsenal on Saturday when narrowly losing to the league leaders.

United beat Villa 2-1 at Old Trafford in the third round last year and it will be the fourth time in seven seasons that the two clubs will have met in the FA Cup.

The champions also beat Villa in 2002 and 2004.

Kaka wins top award after rule changes as Ronaldo comes runner-up..

United's Cristiano Ronaldo came, not surprisingly, runner-up to AC Milan's Brazilian star Kaka who has been named World footballer of The Year after winning the most votes to secure France Football magazine's prestigous Ballon d'Or award.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi came third in the voting.

Not a lot of fans will be aware of the recent rule changes which coincided with this year's competition. The Ballon d'Or came to being in 1955, prior to 2007 the award was more popularly known as the European Footballer of The Year. The rules stated that nominees had to play for a club within UEFA's jurisdiction, and until 1995 all nominated players had to be European.

However, from 1995 until 2006 all players at European clubs were eligible. In 2007 France Football magazine announced that they had opened to the competition to players from across the globe making it a truly international award.

On winning the 2007 Ballon d'Or Kaka secured the most votes from the group of 96 journalists of which and for the first time, only 53 were Europeans. The judges had to choose five players from the list of 2007 nominees. Each of the five selected nominees is then awarded either one, two, three, four and five points.

Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten of Holland and Michel Platini of France are the only players who managed to win the award three times. With the recent rule changes the competition has surely become a lot harder to win.

Mourinho for England: Why José would be right to turn down the job...

So Fergie is apparently going advise the FA on who should replace Steve McClaren. Not that Brian Barwick is going to ask me, but my personal view is that the red hot favourite that is José Mourinho would be mad to accept the job when he has the pick of virtually any position he chooses. Here's why.

The England job is a poisoned chalice as every manager since Sir Alf Ramsey has found out to their cost. Apart from perhaps Bobby Robson, none of the former England coaches have left the job with their reputation intact. Following the 1990 World Cup, Bobby Robson eventually went on to manage Barcelona. However, even so the former Ipswich Town boss had was unmercifully hounded by the British press during his tenure as England manager. In 1998 following a draw in a friendly with Saudi Arabia one headline screamed "In the name of Allah, go", there were many other occasions when Robson was hammered by the press - it comes with territory. Ironically while at Sporting Lisbon who he joined in July 1992, Robson worked alongside a Portuguese interpreter by the name of José Mourinho.

Another former England manager Graham Taylor suffered the indignity of having an image of his head artworked into a turnip by the Sun Newspaper. Many will feel that Taylor was the wrong man for the job, but this theory only holds water for those who truly believe that England have been punching below their weight since 1970. Which is questionable at best in my view given the lack of technical skills of English players in general.

The press will have the fans believe that Terry Venables is the messiah, when it comes to tactics and the technical side of the game, but if that was the case Barwick et al would not be consulting a Scotsman about their next appointment. Venables would be the obvious candidate every time, but he is not and rightly so on this occasion.

In weighing up his options Mourinho will take everything into consideration. The former Chelsea manager isn't stupid and he knows that unlike with club football, his hands would be largely tied. He cannot go out and bring in who he likes as you can at club level. Mourinho would not be able to go out and deploy his brand of percentage football when needs must, because England do not have a Didier Drogba.

Not only that the self anointed special one has a hard earned reputation as a winner and perhaps above all else this will be his overriding consideration. Can he actually make a difference by transforming serial losers into winners? If Mourinho comes to the conclusion that, no he cannot, as I expect he will, given the limitations of the job, then he will rightly turn down the FA's huge offer - reported to be a staggering £6m a year.

José Mourinho doesn't the need the FAs cash and while the reported money of offer is ridiculous, this will not be the deciding factor. He would be mad to accept the position is my view. The depth of talent isn't there at present and even Mourinho cannot change that.

IF on the other hand Mourinho's massive ego gets the better of him, then just maybe he can be persuaded to take the job on in the misguided belief that he can succeed where so many others have failed miserably.

IF Mourinho did accept the job offer at least then Barwick and the FA will no doubt feel that they have done as much as they can do in the search for the right man to replace McClaren. That view may well be correct in some ways, but the problems which beset English football go way beyond the appointment of the next manager. Mourinho may well hold that view privately which will be another consideration.