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Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed on Saturday evening, after Manchester United’s 2-0 win against Tottenham, that Manchester United would not be making new signings in January. Speaking to the Independent, Sir Alex Ferguson stated, “We won’t be buying in January, definitely not.”

It has been widely rumoured that Sir Alex Ferguson have been given a £100m war chest to purchase new players.  It is obvious that Ferguson trusts his young squad but is the Manchester United manager demonstrating signs of being on power trip considering Wayne Rooney’s damging comments two weeks ago.

However, Sir Alex Ferguson has to put Manchester United first and what would be the point in purchasing youngsters over a period of years just to replace them all with big name signings this January. What Ferguson is creating at Old Trafford is exciting. There is some real talent coming through at Manchester United, the likes of Javier Hernandez, the Da Silva twins, whilst Ben Amos looked solid in goal against Wolves. Ferguson must be aware United need to strengthen, but January would be the wrong time to change the look of the squad.

Manchester United fans have to trust Sir Alex Ferguson. Sir Alex Ferguson will have many players on his radar but he will not risk rushing the process. Manchester United has the squad that is capable of challenging this season. Why would Ferguson go out and purchase a player in January that he couldn’t play in the Champions League.  It wouldn’t make business sense and Sir Alex Ferguson would be seen as panic buying. What Manchester United need to do is expose these young players to as many big game situations (as has been the policy in the Champions League this season) to test how good they could become. Manchester United’s policy of avoiding the January transfer window is a good decision.

January would be the wrong time to start replacing Van der sar, Giggs, Neville and Scholes. The prices are astronomical for top players, and the way the transfer window is staged, Old Trafford would become a media circus. With one of the busiest and most important periods of the season, it would be detrimental to the squad if every player under the sun was linked to the club. With Ferguson ending all speculation that Manchester United are set to buy, the circus can roll up at another club.

What people should not forget is the size of the Manchester United squad. Sir Alex Ferguson expects Antonio Valencia back by the end of February, by that time Owen Hargreaves could be back in first team action as well as Michael Owen. Add these three players to the squad as it stands now and Manchester United look very healthy. Of course, no one knows whether Hargreaves or Valencia will be the same players again – Manchester United have never adopted the policy of selling an injured player down the river. Manchester United needs to be patient and wait for the right deal. As Real Madrid showed this summer, there are bargains out there in the transfer market.

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What was said in the meeting between Wayne Rooney, David Gill and Sir Alex Ferguson, we will never know. We can speculate as much as we want, but what is fact is Wayne Rooney is staying at Manchester United. That is the most important signing they have made in years and it showed to Manchester United fans that Ferguson is still the boss. Is Ferguson being stubborn because of what Wayne Rooney said? It is possible, but it doesn’t seem likely that Ferguson would put Manchester United in that predicament. Ferguson rarely buys in January, because of the lack of value. There is no change this time. The squad that Sir Alex Ferguson has assembled at Manchester United will challenge in a big way in the next few years. Ferguson’s attention in the coming weeks should be on bringing Carlos Queiroz back to Old Trafford.

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Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry has leapt to the defence of under-fire manager Roberto Mancini.

The England international believes the Italian tactician is the right man for the job despite their recent struggles in the Premier League.

The 3-0 home reversal to Arsenal on October 24 was followed by a demoralising 2-1 setback at lowly Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.

The Citizens' frustrations were obvious as senior players Vincent Kompany and Emmanuel Adebayor were seen having a heated exchange on the Molineux pitch as tempers flared.

Although Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez are rumoured to be unsettled at Eastlands, Barry insists the club's personnel are striving to get things right and he wants them to grab a positive result in Thursday's Europa League clash at Lech Poznan.

"The truth is that there is a group of players working together, working hard and working for the manager, trying to do the right things. Everyone in that dressing room and that training complex wants to do their best for Manchester City football club," he said.

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"As a group of players we let the club and the fans down at Wolves. We are sorry for that but it is only one result and as a team we are now desperate to put that right.

"The best way of doing that is on the pitch with wins, starting on Thursday in the Europa League."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney is quickly regaining his fitness and is a possibility to start in United’s next Premier League game. As a Manchester United fan do you forgive Rooney for his past misdemeanours in order for that of the good of the whole or do you stand by your feeling of being offended and the sense of duty to feel contempt towards his actions? The question put more simply is posed as the good of the whole or the resentment of one to the possible detriment of the whole.

I appear to find myself indecisive on the matter in terms of reasoning about it, but my initial gut reaction owing to my sentiments, suggests that Rooney shouldn’t be forgiven just for the sake of the team. But this is a feeling and not one subjected to reasoning about the pertaining issues. What then could compel United fans to forgive Rooney or maintain a stance of indignation at his actions? It is certainly easier as an onlooker who has no vested interest in the club to come to a decision, so I shall try to emphasise as much as I can.

The first aspect of being a football supporter to note is the fact that primarily you support the team, the club, and not certain players, although you may have one or two favourites, they certainly aren’t enduring in the same way as a club is. Therefore you can put forward the idea that players don’t have to be supported as the club supports them and in turn the fans support the club, a line of support you might say. Rooney offended Manchester United, the players and fans included, through his actions; he extracted all he could through calculated means and a selfish desire that motivated the whole saga.

Conversely, a club relies on its parts to form a coherent whole and when Manchester United are struggling to emulate their Premier League dominance they need one of their major parts to return. So in the best interests of the club, do fans support Rooney as though nothing had happened? Well time is a healer and given a succession of match winning performances, the majority of fans will give Rooney concession for his past mistakes due to his importance to the team.

There will obviously be a gross divide in opinions on this matter, but morally deprived persons are very rarely given their comeuppance in football as long as they perform on the pitch. The fact that Rooney had the temerity to question Sir Alex Ferguson, one of the greatest managers of all-time, and the ambition of the club was astonishing. His commitment is decided by how many zero’s appear on his pay cheque, so why should fans display commitment to him when he treats them as mere accessories?

But these mere accessorises help to pay his wage, some recognition of this or at least an apology for his lugubrious actions towards all involved at United would soften the hearts and heated feelings towards him. What Rooney ought to make certain, is that of scoring and helping United to win the Premier League, otherwise he won’t have justified his behaviour in any manner at all. I’d be interested to know where United fans stand on this one.

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Tottenham travel to Blackpool on Sunday in what promises to be an open and entertaining Premier League fixture. Ian Holloway’s Blackpool have been a revelation in the Premiership this season, and Harry Redknapp’s Spurs play some of the best football in the Premier League, so it’s probably bound to be a 0-0 draw! No, there should be goals galore and for those of you selecting your Picklive fantasy football players, who should you consider?

One Tottenham player who seems to have gone off the boil a little bit recently, yet is still one of the top Premier League performers of the season, is Gareth Bale. Bale is Tottenham’s top average points scorer in Picklive this season, racking up an average of 56 points a game. Bale was largely on the periphery of the action against Chelsea last weekend, and unsurprisingly only scored 31 points, but at Bloomfield Road he’ll be looking to recapture his early season form.

A Spurs teammate that will be hoping to link up well with Bale is Benoit Assou-Ekotto. The duo will be a handful for Blackpool to keep quiet, and you feel that if Bale is closely marked then Assou-Ekotto can make the most of the space offered to him. The only other Tottenham player to average over 50 points on Picklive this season is Luka Modric, and the Croatian midfielder will be looking to pull the strings in the middle of the park for Spurs once more.

As far as Blackpool are concerned, the loss of Charlie Adam is a big one. Adam is serving a one match suspension, meaning that he can’t add to the impressive points tally he has this season. His closest Blackpool rival in the Picklive points stakes is defender Stephen Crainey who averages an impressive 80 points per game. If he can keep this up against Tottenham then it could go a long way to helping Ian Holloway’s men getting a positive result.

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So the three players I would pick in the Blackpool v Tottenham match are Gareth Bale, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Stephen Crainey, but who would you go for? Why not prove me wrong and make the most of your Picklive FREE TRIAL and show that you’re the live fantasy football king!

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There was a time not so long ago when Joey Barton was about as valued a member of the Newcastle squad as Ricky Gervais would be welcome at a Golden Globes after party.

From training ground bust ups to branding a youth team player with a cigar, not to mention a spell behind bars, Barton has hardly been the model professional in recent years.

There was a point after Barton was sentenced to six months in prison for his part in a violent assault that any hope of the Newcastle midfielder making the most of his promise seemed to have gone. The summer of 2008 was a dark time for Barton.

During Kevin Keegan’s second spell as Newcastle boss, the fiercely loyal Keegan stuck by the controversial Barton in the face of calls to rid the club of a player deemed to be nothing but trouble.

Since dropping into the Championship, Barton appears to have found the stability in his life that was absent from the early part of his career. Part of the Championship topping side of last season, Barton has showed his best level of performance since he first emerged in a Manchester City shirt, eight years ago.

Whenever an English midfielder hits a vein of good form there are inevitable questions raised about future international honours. For Barton, his England career has been as chequered as it has been brief, a solitary substitute appearance against Spain in 2007, the limit of his higher honours.

Barton himself has talked up the prospects of a potential return to international colours, although regardless of his improved behaviour, such a selection would appear unlikely. England coach, Fabio Capello has had enough drama over the conduct of his top stars in recent months and will not want the potential aggravation of selecting the midfielder.

It would inaccurate to label Barton a completely reformed character. Even during this season where it has been said that the former Manchester City midfielder has improved his behaviour, Barton has been on the receiving end of a three match ban for punching Morten Gamst Pederson during his side’s game with Blackburn back in November.

The problem is, Barton talks a very good game. I have heard a number of experienced sports journalists talk about how genuine and sincere Barton can appear in person. It is clear that his drinking ruins a large portion of the good work the Newcastle man has done in the community.

At 28, Barton could still feasibly make the step up in class he has threatened during periods of his career to date. Should he want to do this outside of the confines of St James’ Park time is not on his side.

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But will other clubs really want to bid for Barton? There is an inevitable level of conjecture surrounding potential transfers at this time of the season, so any interest in the one cap wonder could well turn out to be nothing. I would seriously dispute if a handful of strong performances would be enough to erase the memory of years of bad behaviour.

There is no doubt that a focused Joey Barton would be a valuable asset, and one that a host of top flight clubs would be interested in. Should Barton keep his nose clean and help push Newcastle up the table, then Alan Pardew may well find himself inundated with offers. Until then the controversial hard man very much remains on probation, both in the eyes of his club and the football community.

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Manchester United have won their last two games after going behind and bet365 are offering you odds of 11/2 for it to happen again against Aston Villa today. Man United are looking to make it three out of three as far as comebacks are concerned at Old Trafford tonight, where they will face Gerard Houllier’s revitalised Villa, now led by Darren Bent.

bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth “Man Utd were backed as big as 18/1 against Blackpool in-play last midweek, whilst Fergie’s boys were punted at 5/1 at St Mary’s on Saturday and it’s fair to say that both comebacks were very very costly for bookmakers.”

In other football markets, Man Utd are 7/1 to remain unbeaten with bet365 and 6/1 to win the Premier League by seven points or more, which may now be under threat given the amount of money that Chelsea spent on transfer deadline day yesterday.

So, it seems that football has reached a stage where the obsession with money has taken over to the extent where we see it dripping from every pore. Summed up by the Wayne Rooney and more recently, Tevez fiasco. Highlighted further by the sacking of the unglamorous yet exceptionally effective Chris Hughton, and most recently Sam Allardyce has lost out to the overly expectant board of Blackburn, before him Mark Hughes lost out to a more glamorous Mancini.

I ask today, has the ever increasing money driven nature of the Premier League given us cause to give up on it?

Perhaps most frustrating, is the recent desire of players to move to Spain. While players have used the reasons of family, lack of ambition and even climate to justify their wanting to leave their club, in reality one cannot help but look further than the difference in tax rate as being the significant factor in players wanting to quit English football.

Are the days of a Ronaldo and Cantona over? Is every top player going to instead be in Spain? Are we far away from a time when teams are to be filled with exotic sounding but distinctly average foreign players making up the majority of the sides in the Premier League.

With Fernando Torres’ loss of passion and form, Didier Drogba’s ageing (and inconsistency) and Cesc Fabregas’ possibly impending departure from the Premier League, are we going to have to switch over to La Liga to see the best players in the world compete?

One only has to analyse a few aspects of the Premier League to find your answers;

Andy Carroll, Scott Parker, Birmingham’s back 5, Blackpool, Gareth Bale, Ji Sung Park.

These players sum up the best of the Britishness about our League. The desire to win.

While the world of the recession may be far, far distant from the dream world of the Premier League, there are moments of life captured every weekend which is what makes football so amazing. The passion of the fans gives the players the hype and this passion will never be lost. Just ask Man United fans who might berate and foul mouth the American owners, wearing scarves to show their lack of appreciation if they would consider anything other than watching Manchester on a weekend.

Yes we watch it for the mercurial and the majestic. The one in a hundred players, the moments of utter brilliance. These iconic moments may fill the tabloids and be branded around the back pages, but it is the more basic human elements I am interested in.

One moment of the season I look back fondly on is Drogba’s reaction to missing the penalty against Tottenham at White Hart Lane; raising his hands apologetically to the travelling away fans. And I say this as a Chelsea fan. One cannot help but identify with that reaction, and almost every football fan has missed a penalty. The utter honesty of the moment was a pure brilliance. The façade of professionalism crumbled and the real man underneath shone through. And lets face it, if you don’t have the desire to succeed you will not make it in the Premier League, just ask Diego Forlan, who can only be described in cricketing terms as a flat track bully; exceptional against teams who roll over and die, but when the going gets tough he struggles.

These are the moments when we see a bit of ourselves in the modern day amphitheatre. While building heroes is part of the everyday man’s love for football, we can leave this to the tabloids and in the mean time be inspired by the passion, desire and courage shown by players every week. I think that money is football now and one cannot expect an agent to take his job any less seriously than a player, and the case is definitely no different in Spain. In short, you would be mad to choose to watch La Liga before the English Premier League.

There might be some mind boggling amounts of money being spent, there might be some ego maniacs and power hungry agents controlling the game, but as soon as it turns 3 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, I would not change the Premier League for the world.

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La Liga is not far off replicating the SPL (Scottish Premier League) in being a two horse race. There are four, some would say five, potential teams gunning for the Premier League title this year, and another 5 competing for a place in Europe. La Liga has a long, long way to go before it reaches the amount of across-the-board passion as displayed this weekend.

Spain might have the best two teams in Europe, but for now let’s just be sure that the Premier League is the best in the world.

Written by Joe Austin

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The debate surrounding the foreign influence over the English game is one which everybody seems to have an opinion on. Eric Cantona has had his two pence worth, Johan Cruyff jumped in with a few punches a couple of years ago and I’m pretty sure every public free-house in the country has, at some point, hosted the hotly contested issue, reminiscent of an episode of Question Time. There is certainly no fence to sit on when discussing the matter. The general consensus of former professionals is that the end is nigh for our national team if England’s top clubs continue to recruit from abroad. But are they right? Have the foreign invasion really quashed the progress of the next group of Britain’s best?

Back in 1908, Tottenham signed the very first foreigner to ever play in England. German striker Max Seeburg made his first and last appearance in a defeat away at Hull. Insignificant maybe, but I don’t think anyone would have predicted Seeburg’s arrival would open a door through which the rest of the world could wander through and play football in England. Admittedly, it didn’t exactly work that quickly. The combination of the arrival of the brand new, exciting FA Premier League and USA ’94 seemed to be the catalyst to the invasion of foreign stars. Interestingly, England were absent from that World Cup. In hindsight, watching the world’s stars light up the biggest football stage and then bringing them to England probably wasn’t the way to prevent England from failing to reach another major tournament.

But the prize was too great for clubs to risk trusting their home-grown products over an experienced international. Alex Ferguson promised to knock Liverpool ‘off their perch’ when he took over at Manchester United. Was he really going to achieve this by picking Kevin Pilkington in goal over Peter Schmeichel? And what about Eric Cantona? Many consider the elegant Frenchman the player who transformed United from challengers into champions.

Then there is the argument that says if the English talent is good enough, then they’ll play. Despite Premier League football becoming a playground for the stinking rich, I think in modern times, this applies more than ever. Look at Joe Hart, Jack Wilshere and Andy Carroll. All three have been given the opportunity, not because their respective clubs had no other option, but because they are good enough to play football at the top level. But wait, if we are using this logic, on current form, shouldn’t Danny Welbeck be getting a game at Old Trafford instead of being shafted out on loan to make way for a previously unheard of Mexican with a funny nickname?

It’s certainly a fine margin. Some of England’s great prospects have become victim to the foreign import, there‘s no question. I think about players such as Shaun Wright-Phillips who burst onto the scene only to fall short after his big money move to Chelsea. But did he fail or did the new regime at Stamford Bridge fail him? His career in West London could best be described as stuttering – he was never given enough time and chances to prove his worth.

Then again, is this the problem? As soon as we get an English talent coming through the ranks, the big sharks start smelling success and back the less fortunate teams into corners which financially speaking, they cannot get out of. At the moment, we are all presiding over the future of Southampton’s 17-year-old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. £10 million is the rumoured figure. What has he done to warrant such a price tag? By slapping that kind of money on his forehead, are the press just waiting for him to fail? It would make a good story after all…

When we talk about the morality of clubs who plough money into circulation by bringing in foreign stars, Aston Villa is thrown in as a counter argument, naturally. I actually read that should the amount of foreign players in the starting line up be limited then they would be top of the league. No disrespect, but my argument would be that the Premier League would be of a pretty ordinary standard. Yes, Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor are good English players, but they are no more than that. Let me put it this way – Nani or Young? Didier Drogba or Agbonlahor?

This whole article points to one thing: the Premier League has so many foreign stars because we simply do not produce enough quality ourselves. Is this the fault of our exports from abroad? Absolutely not. Managers know what they need and they know what is good enough, and if it can’t be British, then they have every right to look elsewhere. Would I like to see to see more English stars in the Premier League winning trophies? Of course, but it’s not happening for a reason. Take West Ham as a case in point: Matthew Upson wasn’t considered good enough at Arsenal. Wayne Bridge wasn’t considered good enough at Chelsea or Man City. Even Scott Parker and Carlton Cole failed to impress at Stamford Bridge. All these players get mentioned when we talk about England’s next squad, and we wonder why England haven’t won a major trophy since 1966.

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So, are foreigners stopping British stars coming through or is it just a convenient excuse? It’s hard to say, because in players like Hart, Carroll, Wilshere and even Chris Smalling we have proof that if you’re good enough, you’ll play. Admittedly, it’s becoming harder for home-grown players as clubs are free-spending, looking for instant success. But there is no replacing a world-class talent who didn’t cost a penny. I think I’ve found that fence, is that a spare seat I see?

Did you enjoy my ranting? Follow me on Twitter @Joino

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Arsenal midfielder Alex Song believes the squad must maintain concentration as they ready themselves for a busy period that will define their season.With the Gunners just four points behind English Premier League leaders Manchester United, Arsenal play Stoke in the league on Wednesday, before meeting Birmingham in the Carling Cup final on February 27 and Barcelona in the Champions League on March 8.After orchestrating a remarkable comeback to beat Barcelona 2-1 in their round of 16 first-leg clash at the Emirates, Arsene Wenger’s men were held to a 1-1 draw by League One side Leyton Orient on Sunday in the FA Cup – adding yet another fixture to an already cramped schedule.Cameroon midfielder Song, 23, insists the side must cast their disappointment aside quickly to focus firmly on the coming month’s action.”It is not very good to have another game because we are playing a lot, but we have drawn a game we wanted to win,” Song said.”Now we need to be focused because we have one game coming soon, which we need to win for the Premier League, and then we have the Carling Cup final next week.””It is always very difficult when you play one big game and when you come back you play a team you are supposed to beat.””But we are still in the FA Cup and I am 100 percent sure we will win the replay at the Emirates.”With a five-year drought in the Arsenal trophy room, the Carling Cup final against Birmingham is a significant game for Wenger’s men, but Song said overhauling Manchester United is priority number one.”We have a very good team and always work very hard in training because this year is very important for us,” he said.”We want to do very well because everyone has been waiting for this moment for a long time.””We are in a strong position because we are in four competitions and that is very good for us.””We need just to take game by game. The next step is Wednesday against Stoke which is very important.”

Arsenal’s loss to Barcelona seemed almost inevitable the moment Lionel Messi opened the scoring at the end of the first half.

Sergio Busquets own goal equaliser gave the Gunners a small glimmer of hope, after all as it stood they were now actually going through to the quarter finals of the Champion’s League, the only problem being that, there were still over 30 minutes of football to play, which when your facing Barcelona at the Nou Camp can be an eternity.

Robin Van Persie’s sending off poured sand on any fire Arsenal were hoping to ignite and from then on it was literally a passing masterclass in the Total Football mould of the 1970′s Dutch teams, with the average spectator being forgiven for not having a clue just what position each Barcelona player was meant to be playing, such was the magnitude of their attacking interplay.

The problem was that regardless of whether Van Persie’s sending off was arguably a moot point as it’s highly unlikely an eleven man Arsenal would have been able to cope with such a rampant Barca- he should not have been sent off and the game should have been played out evenly- at least in terms of the amount of personnel.

Van Persie’s second yellow card for shooting when through on goal, despite the referee blowing for offside was one of the most ridiculous decisions I’ve seen since, erm, Sunday. What makes the referees decision even worse is the fact that he’s considered one of Europe’s best, but for some reason seemed totally bereft of any common sense.

Anyone who’s been to the Nou Camp will tell you the noise and the atmosphere, particularly on a Champions League night can be deafening and this is surely something that cannot have escaped Massimo Busacca. Although you’d expect the players to hear the whistle, when a striker goes through on goal, he’s always likely to have a shot, even if he thinks he’s heard a whistle, or isn’t sure.

It was in the earlier rounds that Barcelona’s Mauel Pinto- the Catalans reserve goalkeeper, tricked Copenhagen’s Cesar Santin into believing he was offside by whistling to the striker as he went through on goal.

I’m not claiming striker’s have a god-given right to ignore the whistle, but there’s got to be a level of common sense prevailing when it comes to the situation the forward was in at the time of the ‘offence.’

Many will argue that the game was beyond Arsenal anyway- despite the score being in their favour- so what does it matter? Well let me ask you this if Teddy Sheringham had been sent off for an innocuous challenge in the 88th minute in the Nou Camp in 1999, wouldn’t many have still claimed that with Bayern Munich ribbons already on the trophy, the game was over? Or if that prime example of cheating pond life Steven Gerrard had been dismissed at half time in Istanbul, would that have also been irrelevant?

I don’t think Arsenal would have won had Van Persie stayed on the pitch, but the fact is we’ll never know. Later on when Niklas Bendnter went through on goal, and duly fluffed his chance, there may have been one or two Gooners wondering whether Van Persie would have buried that opportunity.

I sympathised with the striker and his club for two reasons. Chelsea and Liverpool away.

After both games, my social networks were alive with Red after Red, screaming, ranting, threatening and despairing at the ineptitude of the referees and how they’d robbed us.

While I thought both losses were due to more than just poor officials, I could more than understand the feeling of outrage that many felt. If United had gone down to ten men in the same manner against any team, then I shudder to think how I’d feel, I doubt I’d be able to publish it on here, as there’s not much internet access in Strangeways, where I’d arguably be locked up for attempting to attack the ref. Oh and I know it’s now called HMP Manchester, my mates all write to me from there regularly.

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The fact is far too often this season it’s been referees that have been the centre of attention and while I’ve got no great love for Arsenal or Robin Van Persie, I couldn’t help but feeling a little sympathy with him after the game and agreed with his summation that it’s a “joke” and as one man once sang “that joke isn’t funny anymore.”

Read more of Justin’s articles at the excellent Red Flag Flying High

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