Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 11/12

DB21 wrote: »

I'd class Rooney and Vidic as far more vital than Valencia (no disrespect to Valencia, but Rooney and Vidic influence entire games).

Mr Alan wrote: »

Amazing saves them.

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

Will someone link me to that fantastic blog yis are all stealing those gifs from? Only been to it the one time it was posted in here.

JOSH King can step into the spotlight and assume a lead role for Hull City next month, according to manager Nick Barmby.

Six weeks on from joining on loan from Manchester United, King has been limited to just three substitute appearances in the Championship.
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The forward's only start came in the FA Cup defeat to Crawley and, as yet, he is still to open his goalscoring account for the Tigers.

The last fortnight has seen King work on his fitness with reserve-team run-outs against Rotherham and Leeds, and the 20-year-old will hope to make his mark for City when a run of nine games in 30 days begins at Blackpool on Friday.

"With minutes under his belt he's looking sharper all the time," said boss Barmby.

"Josh will have a big part to play for us I'm sure, especially in March with all the games coming up.

"We've told all the lads that. Everyone needs to be ready to seize the chance when it comes along."

The absence of Cameron Stewart from the City fold, on international duty with England under-21s until Thursday, could see King considered for a first league start at Blackpool.

If Stewart is selected for the Euro 2013 qualifier against Belgium, it seems unlikely he would be considered for a second start in 48 hours at Bloomfield Road.

Aaron Mclean would be the most likely beneficiary in that scenario but King will be pressing for selection.

Along with Stewart, Corry Evans will also be in action on Wednesday night as Northern Ireland face Norway in Belfast.

With Tom Cairney also nursing a groin injury from last week's 0-0 draw with Brighton, a problem that could rule him out of Scotland under-21s duty this week, that could pave the way for Seyi Olofinjana to come in from the cold.

Barmby plans to monitor the situation as the week progresses but is pleased to see a fierce competition for places ahead of the season's busiest period next month.

"It's difficult to keep everyone happy because they all want to play," said Barmby, who has struggled to even find a place on the bench for the likes of Olofinjana, Richard Garcia and Jay Simpson.

"The good thing is that whoever is not playing is backing his mate and not sulking over being out of the team.

"You don't need that in a squad game. Ultimately it's beneficial to everyone if we're doing well. You see everyone pushing each other here. They're a very good group who want to do well for each other.

"Yes, they want to take each other's places but it's a healthy respect from everyone."

With City's trip to Cardiff postponed due to their League Cup final date with Liverpool yesterday, the Tigers fell further behind the Championship's top six. City are ninth, with at least one game in hand on the sides above them, but two points adrift of the play-offs.

Ferguson was full of praise for Manchester United's two old timers, especially Giggs who scored the last-minute winner to seal a 2-1 victory on his 900th appearance. Scholes, had given them an early lead but that was cancelled out in the 83rd minute by a fine strike by City captain Grant Holt.

Ferguson was delighted his side had not fallen four points behind City, who had beaten Blackburn Rovers 3-0. Now they are two points adrift with both teams having 12 games still to play.

"Given the career Ryan has had, to score the winning goal with the last kick of the game, I think he deserved that," Ferguson said.

"It was a marvellous cross from Ashley Young.

"But I have to say we were lucky today, in the sense Norwich had more promise about them. I thought we were lethargic, too casual on the ball.

"Then when we lost the goal, we played brilliantly. That tells you something about the temperament, they do not get nervous and started to up their game, so that augurs well for us.

"The players know they should have done better during the game, and that is irrespective of Norwich being the better team, they just kept crossing that ball into the box."

Ferguson also praised goalkeeper David de Gea and central defensive pairing Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans for withstanding a fierce Norwich barrage.

"Without Ferdinand, Evans and De Gea, we would have been down," he said. "They were brilliant the three of them, in the second half."

Ferguson also found words for veteran Scholes, who had come out of retirement earlier in the season to answer his manager's call.

"I forgot about Scholesy scoring the first one," Ferguson admitted. "He and Giggs are the best players this club has ever had."

The result was hard on Paul Lambert, the Norwich manager, but he had been delighted by the way his players had responded to going behind so early in the game.

"We were excellent," he said. "But Manchester United have been doing that for 25 years. Norwich have also been scoring late goals so I suppose I need to take my own medicine. Now I know what it feels like

"But we gave it everything and I couldn't have asked for more. We were excellent but by the end we were running on empty and Manchester United come at you from all angles."

Scholes' seventh-minute goal was a simple header after Nani had picked him out at the back post with a cross from the right.

Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy was needed to make saves from Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck on a day when Wayne Rooney was absent with a throat infection that will also keep him out of England's friendly with the Netherlands next week.

But de Gea was also busy and made impressive stops to deny Anthony Pilkington and Holt in the first half.

Holt made it 1-1 seven minutes from time with an impressive shot on the turn but Giggs then had the last word.

Lambert also paid homage to United's evergreens.

"The two of them are a huge part of Manchester United's history. They know how to win and they have won major tournaments. They are two fabulous footballers."