Taoiseach puts team straight

There was a whole ten pages devoted to the derby game in tonight's Manchester Evening News. Don't know why I bought when we lost. Picture of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at the game. You do a bit of political chit chat at the airport, sort out international relations and get some tickets to the match. Not reported in the Evening News was Bertie Ahern's, a long time United supporter, comments about the United's team performance. You have to leave that to the Irish Independent. Notice in the photo are three of the seven Glazer directors...

"Taoiseach shoots from the lip as City rivals beat his beloved Reds" Here
The best line is "Thankfully there's always 5.15 next Saturday against Arsenal!"

Dire Performance in the Derby

United 1 Manchester City 2 att: 75,970

Derby Day Chants from biffadigital on Vimeo.
The fans were behind their teams, the 1 minute silence was observed, and free scarves held aloft. But the United's team performance was one of the worse I've seen for years. Plenty of poor passing, shots well wide and hopeless big hoof balls up to the forwards. No Rooney or Evra and it showed. To be fair to City they looked composed and new signing Benjani is a handful for any defence. Disappointed, very disappointed with today's team effort.

Other points...City fans signing "There's only one Frank Swift" which was welcomed with applause by the United faithful. Some firework bangs going off in the minute's silence - not sure about that. Getting a free scarf (100% acrylic, Made in China - isn't everything) and a facsimile programme of the game after Munich with the blank team sheet.

BBC Video of pre-match wreaths, bag-piper & silence..here

Looking forward to the derby

Only two home games this month, and two away ones both on the Tv, but all of them big, big games. There are not many cherry picks in the Premiership, so much for taking the matches to the Far East - Blackburn Rovers v. Birmingham City in Kuala Lumpar on a Sunday morning anyone? Apart from playing City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea the rest of the league fixtures are very much clementines and crab apples.

But this is a big match - and the most talked about derby in years. So come Sunday we'll be getting to Old Trafford a little bit earlier instead of ten minutes before kick-off, don't want to miss a minute of it. An hyper electric, emotionally charged atmosphere with all that tension and expectancy of a game against City. Even the main stand might join in with some polite clapping. Unfortunately Rooney will not be on the pitch but if Ronaldo can score wearing black boots and not his golden ones we'll get the result we want. Just hoping it's a noisy sporting occasion to savour and not marred by a few morons going in K stand.