Ron: United are perfectCristiano Ronaldo has rubbished rumours he will join Real Madrid in the summer and said: “I’m sick of having to tell people I’m happy at United.” The brilliant Portuguese star, 23, knows the Spanish champions want to smash the world transfer record by signing him for £90million — but he is not interested. He said: “I just don’t care what the whole world seems to want to say about me or speculate about my future. I’ve said it a thousand times and, by now, people should realise . . . I’m totally happy at United. I’m in the form of my life and I’m having the season of my career so far. So it makes me mad sometimes to read some of the things which are supposed to be related to my future"Martin Blackburn, The SunCarlos Queiroz responds to reports linking Ronaldo with a switch to Real Madrid, by insisting he "would not sell him for £120m euros."Meanwhile, Sir Alex says the title is now United’s to lose. “In my experience in life you don’t take things for granted," he said. "We have three games away and one at home so we have a job to do. There’s still a lot to play for and it could still go to the wire.”According to The Sun, Nemanja Vidic has given United a Champions League boost by returning to training. The Serb centre-back sat out three games after twisting a knee in United’s victory over Roma. But Vidic came through yesterday’s session at Carrington and is set to face Blackburn on Saturday ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final first leg in Barcelona. Striker Louis Saha could also be back on the bench at Ewood Park after a month out with a hamstring strain.In other news, Fabio Capello says he sees Wayne Rooney as a future England captain but believes the striker still needs to develop a killer instinct in front of goal.
United's performances on the pitch are, in part, born out of togetherness and camaraderie off it. Rio Ferdinand gives us the inside track on life in the first-team dressing room...Best trainer: Scholesy. He’s such a good passer, and his team always wins in training. Worst trainer: I’d say Wes or Wazza. They must be saving themselves for the games.Fittest squad member: Wayne or Ronaldo. They’re both explosive players that could run at the same pace in the last minute of a game as they could in the first.Most outrageous skill: Obvious… Ronaldo. Nani tries to compete, but to no avail!Toughest tackler: Wayne, Vida and Scholesy. There are some big tackles that go in. Maybe they don’t like their team-mates.Anyone play out of position? No, the manager doesn’t let us. Back in the day I used to play up front in training. But that was stopped, I think I was too much of a threat to the forwards.Joker in the dressing room: The sly joker is Fletch. People don’t suspect him, but when something’s going on he is normally involved. Pique and Fletch are always at the centre of pranks with player’s clothes. Me? I don’t get involved. It’s not my game. I’m a very mature member of the squad now so I don’t get drawn into the young boys’ antics!Most intelligent player: Edwin van der Sar would like to think that he’s the most intelligent. I’d probably put myself up there [laughs]. But seeing as Edwin thinks he’s the most intelligent, let’s let him believe it.
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At his weekly press conference, Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed Wes Brown has agreed to sign a new contract with Manchester United... and then revealed Michael Carrick and Rio Ferdinand have done the same.Speculation has mounted throughout the season over Brown's future, with some media outlets suggesting the defender was likely to leave Old Trafford in the summer. Reds boss Ferguson admitted that scenario looked possible at one stage, but is delighted Brown has pledged his future to United."There's no other club for Wes Brown," Sir Alex said. "He's a Manchester United player. We were always quietly confident he would sign."The manager went on to reveal a phone call from David Gill on Friday morning had confirmed Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick had also agreed to put pen to paper on new deals."It's good that the squad is staying together," he insisted. "It continues our policy of lengthening contracts at the right time and keeps the continuity of the first-team squad going, which we try to do."
thats great,continuity of team members
cheers tony
Sir Alex Ferguson insists there is an air of calm around the club ahead of two massive weeks which could determine United's domestic and European fate.The Reds are within two wins of a tenth league triumph, while Barcelona lie in the wait in the Champions League semi-final, the first leg of which takes place at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night.As he has always maintained, Sir Alex believes experience will be a vital ingredient in aiding the team's double aspirations and reckons a combination of composure and determination could make the difference during the season finale."At the moment we're all very relaxed - the players are, the staff are and am I," he revealed. "You get accustomed to the drama of the end of the season. There have been a lot of dramas over the years and you gain experience from that."We've certainly got that experience because we've been there many times. I've knocked on that door hundreds of times and so have some of my players."On certain occasions we've enjoyed great ends to the season and at other times we've tasted defeat in the most dramatic way such as when we lost the league to Blackburn [in 1995] by a point. We had to win at West Ham on the last day, but could only draw - I remember it well, we could have scored six!"So many things can happen, the important thing is how you handle those things. I'm confident we can do that in the best possible way."
Fresh from agreeing a new deal with the club, Michael Carrick has received a glowing endorsement of his talents from Sir Alex Ferguson.The 26-year-old has been one of United's stand-out performers this season and, according to his manager, has developed into a top midfielder approaching the peak of his powers."Michael's been a terrific buy and has had a wonderful season. We're very pleased with him," declared Sir Alex."When he first arrived here he didn't get in the team right away. That can sometimes happen as you saw with Nani and Anderson earlier this season. It can take time to adapt."But once Michael started playing alongside [Paul] Scholes it really helped him. He really matured when Scholes was out injured and he's developed very well."The challenge of coming to Manchester United was a good one. He's playing with a squad of really good players which always helps. And you've seen this season a player reaching the top of his game."
Sir Alex Ferguson saluted his players' appetite and tenacity after the Reds rescued a vital point at Ewood Park to take them three points clear of Chelsea.Carlos Tevez headed home in the 88th minute to send the 7,000-strong United fans at Ewood Park wild.Sir Alex was relieved to see the Argentine pop up in the right place at the right time and hailed his squad's never-say-die attitude."The tenacity and passion we showed to win the game was fantastic. We played like champions and I'm very proud of the players," he told MUTV."We'd rather have had the three points and I think we deserved them, but we've rescued a point yet again with another late goal from Carlos Tevez. So that's very positive."I think we could have had three penalities, but we're getting breaks against us at the moment," added the United boss. "We can't go on about those decisions though or the fact that Brad Friedel had a fantastic game."We had enough chances to win it. We dominated the second half and were very unlucky not to win."The Reds can clinch the title with victory at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, while a draw or defeat would still keep them top of the pile with two games left. "The Chelsea game is massive one," insisted Sir Alex. "I'm sure it'll be a fantastic match and we're going there to win."
Sir Alex claims Wayne Rooney, Edwin van der Sar, Owen Hargreaves and Anderson will all be fit to face Barcelona at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.Van der Sar, Hargreaves and Anderson were rested on Saturday at Ewood Park, while Rooney was forced off against Blackburn Rovers with a hip injury.Rooney went down under a challenge from Ryan Nelsen midway through the second half in United’s 1-1 draw on Saturday. After a period of restricted movement, the England international appeared to loosen up but was eventually replaced by Ji-sung Park in the 90th minute.“Wayne got a knock on the hip but I’m sure it won’t keep him out of Wednesday night’s match,” Sir Alex told Setanta Sports.“Sometimes when you get a kick on the bone it can be very sore at the time but I expect he’ll recover.”
Carlos Tevez again scored a vital late goal as United rescued a point at Ewood Park to remain in pole position in the championship race.The Reds were far from fluent on a frustrating afternoon but just as he’s done against Tottenham and Lyon in recent months, United’s Argentinean striker popped up to find the net with time running out.In the 88th minute, Tevez showed lightning reactions to turn in Paul Scholes’ flick-on from close range and cancel out Roque Santa Cruz’s first-half opener. But more than simply earn a point on an afternoon where it looked for long periods like United would return to Manchester empty-handed, Tevez’s goal dramatically strengthened the Reds’ title challenge with just three games to play.Sir Alex’s men now travel to Stamford Bridge next Saturday with a three-point lead and a significantly better goal difference than rivals Chelsea. And so, while the performance at Ewood Park was hardly vintage United, it may yet turn out to be highly significant. The manager certainly knew the importance of this fixture and, despite a Champions League semi-final to look forward to on Wednesday, named a strong side. The only notable absence was Edwin van der Sar, who was left out due to a slight groin injury. The Dutchman is expected, however, to be fit to face Barcelona in mid-week.Nemanja Vidic made his first appearance since injuring his knee in Rome 18 days ago, while Tevez partnered Wayne Rooney up front. That meant Gerard Pique and Ji-sung Park had to be content with places on the bench, while Ben Foster,
Nani and John O’Shea joined the pair in the dug-out. On a cold and windy afternoon at Ewood Park, the Reds took time to warm up. Indeed, the home side almost went in front on six minutes when Roque Santa Cruz’s shot fell into the path of Jason Roberts. Tomasz Kuszczak was quickly off his line, however, and dispossessed Roberts with his right foot amid penalty claims from the Rovers’ bench.The early scare seemed to spark the Reds into life and Sir Alex’s men perhaps should have taken the lead when Tevez sliced wide from six yards after clever work down the right by Wayne Rooney. Blackburn were determined not to relinquish control easily and fashioned one or two half chances themselves. And then, on 21 minutes, Tevez’s lapse was brought into sharper focus when Rovers took the lead.A long throw from the Blackburn left looked harmless enough when Vidic met the ball first. But in a cruel twist of fate, the ball ricocheted off Rio Ferdinand’s heel and back across goal into Santa Cruz’s path.The Paraguayan, who signed from Bayern Munich in the summer for a bargain £3.5million, calmly side-footed the ball into the corner to send Blackburn fans wild.You can bet there were jubilant celebrations in west London as well, where Chelsea, free from fixtures this weekend, were reportedly watching.Five minutes after Blackburn’s goal, Tevez looked to have been gifted an opportunity to atone for his earlier miss… until the referee’s assistant raised a late flag to signal offside. Replays confirmed the Argentinean was
United: Kuszczak; Brown (O’Shea 81), Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra; Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs (Nani 46); Rooney (Park 90), TevezSubs not used: Foster, PiqueBlackburn Rovers: Friedel; Emerton, Samba, Nelsen, Warnock; Reid, Bentley, Vogel (Mokoena 86), Pedersen; Roberts, Santa CruzSubs not used: Brown, Ooijer, McCarthy, DunnBooked: Rooney (United), Reid (Blackburn)
Yes away to Barca Wed.And then Chelsea at the Bridge on Saturday 12.45 p.m.
Hi Tony
Exciting end to the season,ready for the big one next week?Think your still in pole position even if you lose at Chelsea and win the last two you still win the league.
Nick