Time Is On Your Side, Fergie (By: Robbo Robson)

Michael Owen scoring his first 'controversial' Old Trafford goal against City

Thank goodness there's more to talk about this weekend than Boro's 5-0 drubbing at home to the Baggies. In the Blue Bell, Happy Hour was re-dubbed Grievin' Evenin', and even then an ocean of half-price pintage could not have drowned the multitude of sorrows that swirled around that boozer.

Anyway onwards and upwards (or backwards and downwards at it was at approximately 10.30pm on Saturday) we're still well-placed and as long as the back-four stop defending like daffodils in an April shower we might clamber back out of the bear-pit.

We were back in the same seats for the Manchester derby, sipping quietly on our bitter shandies. We couldn't drink quickly 'cos that would've involved drawing breath every now and then - and my word, there wasn't time, was there?

The papers were filled with the petty back and forth between Hughes and Fergie. A pair of D-list E-cup F-wording glam girls couldn't have served up a less snippy little hors d'oeuvre.

Tevez was jeered so forcefully by the OT regulars that even the prawns were jumping out of the sandwiches to have a pop at him. That pre-season sky blue billboard was pure wummery, to be fair, although it made me smile to see 'Welcome to Manchester' beneath a picture of the little menacing looking scurrier. I suppose in the Boca they've got a big Rooney billboard to scare off their River Plate rivals.

What a game, though! The back fours need to hire some counsels for the defence pretty damn quick cos if they were my players I'd be prosecuting them to within an inch of their lives.
Foster looks less and less like a top keeper (and by inference more and more like an England keeper) with every game. Rio's still capable of the most dim-witted clangers and as for Micah Richards, what the hell's happened to the lad? Does he lose 10,000 more brain cells with the each chunk of bling?

Mind you, it made for fine entertainment. The attacking flair was for all to see, not least from the Welshmen. Craig Bellamy was at his direct best, not least when (allegedly) slapping the chump who'd got himself on the pitch.

Giggs was immaculate, and an inspiration to us all. We could all be a bit like Giggsy with a little more self-belief and a little less curry and beer. Trouble is the self-belief sometimes comes through the curry and beer. Doesn't it? (That's enough beer talk, Robbo, it's not big or clever - Ed).

I've heard lots of drooling United smarty-pants' saying how it just had to be Owen to bag the winner. Well no. Fergie doesn't have some pre-ordained right to be correct all the time, just 'cos he has the ability the bend time to his will.

If he was correct about, for example, Dimitar Berbatov he'd have taught the headbanded Bulgar to head the ball towards the corners rather than straight at the keeper all the flaming time. Even Darren Fletcher can do that. (By the way, can anyone else hear his name on a commentary without repeating 'Fletcher' in your best Mr Mackay voice? Just me then.)

Sparky's most upset that United were given time to finish the job. I know he's in charge of some sulky millionaires (the City back four's communication skills had all the togetherness and spirit of an Eastenders family Christmas at the Mitchells) but he might have to lay the blame at the door of his own dithering team.

Nevertheless it's more grist to the mill for the Old Trafford conspiracy theorists. To think they spent all that bloomin' money on that particle collider thingammy in Cern when they haven't even begun to explain how time can slow and/or extend within the confines of Manchester United's football stadium.

I mean we all know that Parkinson's Law says summat like 'Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion'

Fergie's Law states that: 'Time expands so as to make the work available complete.' It'd be a bit one-eyed and ungenerous to claim that Sir Alex is the only footballing deity to have redefined the laws of nature.

There's Arsene's Law, too, that states that: 'The direction in which I am looking shall be the polar opposite to the direction in which a misdemeanour occurs.' This has been contested in recent days by what has become known as the Adebayor Paradox.

There's also Warnock's Law: 'Defeat is always a construct of maladministration.'

And Roman's Law: 'The Champions League is just one manager away.'

Rafa's Law: 'Zones must be marked. The left-back must be average.'

Also, here's an entry from Gerrard's dictionary: 'international friendly n, groin strain'

The Toon Army dictat: 'You get the chairman you deserve.'

Diouf's Law: 'If there's a nose to be found I'll get up it.'

Scotland's Law: 'If it ain't Rangers, it's Celtic.'

The JT Rule: 'I shall be deemed to be a goalkeeper when star-jumping to block a goalbound effort.'

Maradona's Law: 'Great players make bad managers.'

And then there's the noblest of them all, the Denis Law: 'He that shall score 'gainst those that once he called his brothers shall not raise his arm in victory.' Clearly a certain City striker broke the Denis Law, although I'm told there is an Emmanuel Ade-by-law.

United's victory was fair enough really, but you just can't help feeling that four minutes would've been four minutes anywhere else. No more. No less. It's just a good job Sir Roger Bannister didn't break the four-minute mile in Manchester or they'd be ripping up the record books as we speak.

p/s: Robbo Robson is a football blogger for BBC Football. He was raised in Teeside and an experienced football pundit.

Football greats honour Sir Bobby

Some of the biggest names in football have paid their respects to former England manager Sir Bobby Robson at a service at Durham Cathedral. Sir Bobby died on 31 July aged 76 following a long battle against cancer. The service was live on TV and was also beamed to thousands in Ipswich town centre and at St James' Park in Newcastle.

Gary Lineker said Sir Bobby was "gentlemanly, dignified and diplomatic, he never let his country down." In his tribute, the former England striker said: "Bobby was not just a brilliant leader of men that brought the absolute best out of his players, but he was without question the single most enthusiastic and passionate man in football."He made you feel good about yourself and good about the game. "He loved the game and the game loved him. He was a lion of a man, no, make that three lions."

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said he was inspired to defer his retirement after advice from Sir Bobby. Sir Alex said: "It was not a question, it was a demand. 'You're not retiring are you?'. "'Of course I'm not' (I said). Not after he'd said that." He said people admired Sir Bobby's "courage, dignity and enthusiasm" and would "forever" remember his "little jig" when England scored a last minute winner against Belgium in the 1990 World Cup.

He said: "Friends have said to me you should never finish a eulogy with a cliche such a 'we'll never see his like again'... but we won't."Former Fulham player Tom Wilson recalled Sir Bobby's early playing days and his love for North East England. Cancer specialist Dr Ruth Plummer spoke about the foundation set up in Sir Bobby's name, which has so far raised £1.8m.

Welsh soprano Katherine Jenkins sang Pie Jesu at the service, also attended by former England players including Paul Gascoigne, Terry Butcher, Alan Shearer, Bryan Robson, David Seaman, Stuart Pearce and Peter Beardsley. Graham Taylor, Terry Venables, Sven Goran Eriksson, Steve McClaren and Fabio Capello, who all managed England after Sir Bobby, were also there.

Other famous footballing figures paying their respects among the 1,000-strong congregation were Bobby and Jack Charlton, Harry Redknapp, Sam Allardyce, David Moyes, Mick McCarthy, Don Howe, Roy Keane, Howard Wilkinson, Niall Quinn, Lawrie McMenemy, John Wark and Paul Mariner. Well-known figures from the North East who attended included TV presenters Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, actor Tim Healy and athletes Steve Cram and Brendan Foster. The service closed with Tenors Unlimited singing Nessun Dorma, the opera aria which was the BBC theme tune for Italia 90 and became synonymous with the England team's World Cup campaign.

After the memorial, Sir Bobby's son Andrew said he hoped the public service, which followed a private funeral last month, would help his family. He said: "I think it was a final tribute to him and singing Nessun Dorma, which always will be associated with him, at the end of the service was very poignant." Sir Bobby managed England from 1982 to 1990, taking the national side to the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and reaching the semi-finals four years later. Before that he had led Ipswich Town to FA Cup and Uefa Cup success.

Following his time with England he had spells in charge of PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Lisbon, Porto and Barcelona, before returning to England to manage Newcastle United. His final coaching role was as an assistant to Steve Staunton - who was also at the service - with the Republic of Ireland. Sir Bobby won the Dutch and Portuguese league titles and the European Cup Winners' Cup with Barcelona. Barcelona president Joan Laporta was also at Durham Cathedral for the invitation-only event.

All divers should be punished (By Robbo Robson)

Ey-up. The head honchos are on the warpath. Eduardo's two-game ban for diving is a welcome one. Not as drastic a punishment as has been proposed on this blog before, but welcome nevertheless.

I've had it up to here with Gooners bleating that it's not fair that their lad got picked on when everybody's at it. Then they recommend the same axe fall on the head of 'honest' Wayne Rooney for his less flamboyant effort on Saturday.

I don't want to keep picking over the slo-mos but while Rooney may well have been turf-bound before Almunia completed the job, Eduardo had a more blatant plunge than Katy Price's neckline.

I kind of worry about Wazza calling himself 'honest' - not cos he's a Dean Richards of a fibber but because 'honest' is football-speak for 'hard-working but ultimately not all that'. It's a word we use for, I dunno, Phil Neville, or Dirk Kuyt, or Titus Bramble.

(Another such phrase is 'good engine' which means that the bloke can keep running for 90 minutes but it's probably best if he doesn't come into contact with the ball during that time). But as far as I can tell, Rooney does try and play the game in the right way, always allowing for the odd two-minute barrage of Sopranos dialogue that heads the way of the refs.

Scott Brown challenges Eduardo over his 'dive'

Thing is, Eduardo's ban has to apply across the board from now on. (Actually I wouldn't mind imposing a couple of retrospective fines now this particular kettle of fish has been opened. The least we could do is punish Rivaldo for that skin-crawling Balamory-standard performance by the corner-flag some years back. I wouldn't fine him, just make him wear a big arrow on his head that says 'UTTER JESSIE').

But there's no point in coming down hard if they dodge a bigger decision over the Real Thing in Madrid, or Mr Messi, who's been known to roll like a craps dice when the need arises.

I know Wenger is pathologically averse to having a pop at his own players but he's been wriggling like a worm on a hook over the Croatian. Boruc 'touched' him, apparently. Yeah? How hard? So blinking hard it wouldn't even have shown up on cricket's Hot Spot.

I hope Eduardo stayed indoors on Thursday 'cos it was a mite windy. The poor lad would've barely made it to the end of his front path before getting swept up into the air like Dorothy in her Kansas home. (I know what you're thinking, gents. Is there anyone who doesn't like Wizard of Oz? There is?! Put 'em up, put 'em up)!

We fans hate to see even a Rooneyesque opportunistic drop if we're on the wrong end of it. If it benefits us there's always the 'there was contact' argument. Or worse still the 'it's part of the game' argument. The game's unwritten golden rule these days is 'see a leg, fall over it'

Even the quintessential 'honest' footballer, Everton's Tony Hibbert, can't resist obeying it. Can't say Moyes or Kenwright have had too much to say about the lad's actions either.

So while it's good that the serial simulators might in future be hung out to dry, it's not good enough for us to coo and crow when our centre-forward cheats his way to a winning goal. If we don't want it to be part of the game then we have to make sure the players who wear our shirts know it. Otherwise it's just a load of hypocritical hogwash.

Besides which there are seven-year-old miniature Ronaldos (complete with Stupido gel on their bonces in most cases - why Dads are letting their lads run about looking like little tussocks of grass is beyond me) and they're all inhaling the loam and clay of this great land of ours every weekend as they slither across the turf in search of shameless advantage. And their Dads are probably beaming from the touchlines, the planks!

I mean, I ask the same question when I hear that some 18-year-old know-nowt has just passed her A-levels in Humanities, Film and Media, and Salad Dressing - what the hell are we teaching our children these days?

Fifa has stepped in with the heavy boot 'n' all with the transfer ban on Chelsea. Well we've been begging for someone to neuter the Abramovic chequebook and Fifa has obliged. Sniggering aside - and the mirth has only just died down in this little corner of Championshipland - it does seem incredibly harsh to stop them buying anybody for 15 months.

The lad Kakuta - who I've seen on Youtube and is going to be frightening if they ever let him start a game (Daniel Sturridge what were you thinking?) - was 'induced' apparently. I have to say it's difficult to know what tapping up actually means.

Agents talk to chief executives who talk to managers who happen to bump into players and the whole merry-go-round seems as murky as Loch Ness. I suppose when it comes to a kid at a minor club suddenly getting into chats with the richest club in Europe it could be clearer-cut.

Thing is, they have to lay down the same law to everyone otherwise it just reeks of vindictiveness. Apart from anything, if the Blues can't buy a bit of cover for the African Cup of Nations, my 50 quid on Chelsea is down the pan and Fifa could well be down the Bell trying to explain themselves. Pronto.

Selling Adebayor: Was it a right decision?

Michael Owen unveiling a brochure to attract buyers for himself is one thing - Arsenal fans doing likewise to attract a buyer for Emmanuel Adebayor is another.

While Owen's glossy pages spoke of "The Athlete, The Ambassador, The Icon", a replica produced by a group of Arsenal fans made a series of claims on Adebayor's behalf that were not altogether flattering.

According to his Emirates admirers, Adebayor's "brand values" included the Togo striker being "not small...wifi enabled...definitely not lazy..." Not to mention being "better than Marlon Harewood and Mido put together."

You get the picture. To the sound of tongues drilling holes in cheeks, this snapshot of Arsenal's support suggested he would not be missed should he leave.

And this is why Arsenal fans have not been storming the Emirates in fury at the club's decision to accept £25m of Manchester City's Abu Dhabi riches.

The reasoning is that Arsenal's team and bank balance would be enhanced by cashing in on Adebayor - and it is a theory based in sound logic.

Arsenal have bade farewell to a succession of high-profile players over the years, but very few have been sent on their way with such a wave of indifference as Adebayor. When covering Arsenal games last season, you had to try very hard to detect obvious signs of goodwill from supporters towards the player.

Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira departed with good grace and best wishes, Emmanuel Petit and Marc Overmars to Barcelona and Nicolas Anelka to Real Madrid for a huge profit. Ashley Cole went to Chelsea in exchange for cash and William Gallas amid well-chronicled rancour.
Mathieu Flamini was a regrettable departure on a free transfer to AC Milan, while Alexander Hleb has proved at Barcelona that Wenger got that call spot on.

As far as the Adebayor deal is concerned, the main fear among Arsenal's following is not that the deal will be completed, but that it might collapse.

It is all a far cry from the summer of 2008 when the gifted striker was basking in the achievement of scoring 30 goals in 48 games, a wonderful return that inevitably made him a target for Europe's elite.

AC Milan and Barcelona were among those courted, and even though he eventually signed a new and improved long-term contract, things have never been the same since.

Arsenal's supporters have since, in the main, treated Adebayor with a mixture of reserve and suspicion - and now see the prospect of receiving £25m in exchange for his services as another prime example of manager Arsene Wenger's ability to strike a good deal.

Manchester City's summer signings have all looked to have had a place in the grander scheme. Gareth Barry will provide maturity and quality in midfield, Roque Santa Cruz had his most fruitful goalscoring season under Mark Hughes at Blackburn and Carlos Tevez will provide industry and inspiration.

Adebayor? A goal threat and natural ability certainly, as his brilliant overhead kick against Villarreal in the Champions League proved - but a move to Eastlands does not appear to be the most natural fit.

Arsenal have the striking quality to compensate for Adebayor's absence. Robin van Persie, a more potent and driven player, has committed his future to the club and Andriy Arshavin gave golden glimpses of his quality last season.

Wenger will hope Eduardo, a natural and clinical marksman, can put injuries behind him while Carlos Vela could not be in better hands than Wenger's as he develops a potentially world-class talent.

Nicklas Bendtner is highly-rated by Wenger, who could use the Adebayor cash to add to that weaponry, as well as hunt down the combative midfield enforcer to add physical strength on top of the arrival of £10m defender Thomas Vermaelen.

Bordeaux's Moroccan striker Marouane Chamakh has emerged as a potential target, but as ever Wenger will not be rushed.

Wenger, we can say with some certainty, will have a plan and there is no obvious displeasure that it might not include the enigmatic, albeit lavishly talented, figure of Adebayor.

The New Lucky Number 7

The new no. 7 has been revealed! The lucky one is the new signing, Michael Owen. Is he gonna give a massive impact like what the likes of George Best, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo have done? Mr. Ferguson has put the very full of his faith on Michael. The players, the staff as well as the whole stadium and fans are following Sir Alex's decision to believe in Michael. The only question now lays on his ability to absorb pressure from the whole world.. Will he or won't he manage to give a hit? Let just see at the start of the season. We should believe of what Ferguson believe in his own players. The players also should be believing the new signings' ability to perform on the centre stages. They are what Fergie says as the new germs of the Devils' Theatre of Dreams. Just believe the gaffer. What he says should be what we say as well. The world have been waiting for Manchester United to make an impact in the transfer window instead Real Madrid have overshadowed them. Yet, Ferguson is not tired of being patient. We will see what he will do in the January window. Other clubs have been off-loading their money within weeks while Fergie is saving. We should know how wise the gaffer is as his little signings in the last decade had proved worth it.

United Fans Won't Panic As The Devils Lost Prize Pair

Manchester United have lost two of their best players in Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.
But there has been no hysterical reactions from fans. More new signings like Antonio Valencia would be welcomed, but there isn’t panic on the streets of Denton, Didsbury or Moss Side.
Sir Alex Ferguson has built up such a vast bank of credit that fans would look foolish if they started questioning the playing side of the club.

Ferguson had continually proved doubters wrong and the obdurate Glaswegian would gain great satisfaction from doing it again. United are linked with big names every day, dull agent-led talk. Papers believe it whets fans’ appetites and expectations, but such is the unreliability it merely grates.

United fans have wasted too much time in past summers fretting about whether Alan Shearer would arrive or Ronaldo would leave. Most have learned to know better and trust the manager. He knows best and he’ll bring in who he thinks is right for the club. He’s more likely to identify young emerging talents than go for the franchise-style players Real Madrid are distorting the market for. Ferguson’s obsession is winning football matches, not pumping up expectations, creating illusions and grand egotistical projects.

Ronaldo wanted to leave, something his team mates and manager knew well. He was an outstanding talent in his six years at Old Trafford. But like for most players from south of Marseille, Real Madrid and Barcelona have a far bigger pull than United or Liverpool, just as the two English giants have a bigger sway in Scandinavia.

Ronaldo’s left one club which has had the same manager since 1986 for one which has worked through eight coaches in five years. Madrid’s new coach, Manuel Pellegrini, is top level, but he won’t have the control of Ferguson and I’m sure Ronaldo will miss the stability and discipline which Ferguson offers. Ronaldo will also be closer to home. Manchester to Madeira takes 10 hours allowing for the two necessary connections. From Madrid it’s half that. One significant factor about the move is that it is the first time since Mark Hughes left Old Trafford for Barcelona in 1986 that United have lost a player they wanted to keep. The first time Ferguson has lost a player he wanted to stay.

Beckham and Van Nistelrooy both left for the Bernabéu when Ferguson decided they weren’t in his plans. Ronaldo was, but what was the point of keeping a player who didn’t want to be there?
Ronaldo also had a point when he said he wanted a fresh challenge. He’s won everything there is to win at Old Trafford and can see great opportunities to make his mark in Madrid. He’s gone and Ferguson will have access to the larger part of the £80 million fee to compensate for the rejection.

History will remember Ronaldo as a great United player. His self-confidence could be misplaced for arrogance, his posturing pretention, but if you wanted a player to score a key goal in Rome or Oporto, he was the man. United fans have idolised Bryan Robson, Roy Keane, David Beckham and Eric Cantona, but the wider footballing community always denied these United heroes the ultimate accolade. Ronaldo achieved that when he was voted European Player of the Year for 2008. The Madeiran thus did something that no United player has managed since George Best 40 years ago.

We’d be bitter not to wish him well, but it’s in Sir Alex Ferguson, not Cristiano Ronaldo, that United fans trust. Jordi Cruyff always said that when he played for Manchester United he felt like he was the tail of an elephant. Whereas when he played at Alaves or Celta Vigo he felt like the head. Carlos Tevez was not satisfied with being a leg which never stopped moving and kicking, so he’ll move to be the *rse of a big white (and laser blue) elephant.

I liked Tevez. I interviewed him in Durban last summer and he was sound. He was United’s man of the match in Moscow against Chelsea, but what matters is Ferguson’s opinion. If he doesn’t think that he’s worth the fee, he knows the market better than any supporter. He’s made unpopular decisions before, like selling Norman Whiteside, Paul McGrath, Paul Ince, Mark Hughes, Andrei Kanchelskis and Jaap Stam. He’s usually been vindicated. Backed by a now finely honed scouting team, Ferguson has consistently identified the right talents and rebuilt United teams without anyone having the time to pause and talk about transition.

From emerging but established players such as Patrice Evra, Anderson and Ronaldo himself, to scores of youngsters from Paul Scholes to Federico Macheda, Ferguson gets it right. Others will follow and there’s far more satisfaction in watching a player develop and thrive under Ferguson than seeing top name internationals like Juan Sebastian Veron or Laurent Blanc perform sporadically.

A Spanish friend spoke to Rafa Benitez several years ago. In private, Benitez had correctly identified a player who he thought would become the best centre half in Europe, but Liverpool were reluctant to sanction the funds to buy him.

He was called Nemanja Vidic.

It’s in that market, not the tabloid market, which Ferguson will be currently working hard.

How Much Does It Worth For Sir Alex's Gamble On Owen?

Sir Alex Ferguson placed his faith in something he trusts far more than a glossy brochure when he picked up the phone and offered Michael Owen a new home at Manchester United.
Owen's management team produced the 32-page magazine advertising their client's qualities - aspirational, cool, devoted and sincere to name but four - and delivered a slick reminder of why he was once one of football's genuine superstars.

Ferguson does not do brochures to buy players. Pure instinct and the love of a punt is often enough and the shock pursuit of Owen, mocked only days ago when Hull City and Stoke City declared an interest, is a prime example.

United's vast budget, helped by £80m from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo, lets Ferguson shop at the sharp end of the market - but also gives him the opportunity to take the odd chance. Owen falls neatly into that bracket as prospective targets Karim Benzema, David Villa and Franck Ribery go elsewhere.

So is this a sign of desperation creeping into United's transfer dealings or another piece of inspiration from the gambler Ferguson?

Ferguson has got form for the maverick deal. Eric Cantona was not a regular at Leeds United when Ferguson took him across the M62 and elevated him to Old Trafford's legends.
Laurent Blanc was an itch Ferguson simply had to scratch and that was not a huge success, but Teddy Sheringham came late to Old Trafford and cleaned up on silverware, while the veteran Henrik Larsson made a contribution when he joined United on loan from Helsingborg in December 2006.

Blanc and Larsson were players Ferguson had long wanted at Old Trafford and it was source of regret that he only got his hands on them in the twilight of their careers. Owen has tempted him before, but now he feels the time and price is right.

As I noted in an earlier blog, Owen represents a gamble worth taking and his wages are not prohibitive when lesser talents will be going for just as much this summer.
The shock of this story is Owen's destination. Hull and Stoke were never serious options, but Everton and Aston Villa were - only for United to come out of left field on Thursday afternoon.
So who gets what from this transfer? And will certain other clubs come to regret leaving the field free for Ferguson to set up a deal that comes as a surprise, even to the supposedly unshockable Premier League community?

For Owen, this is a staggering opportunity that he could never have imagined being placed in front of him when he trudged off Villa Park after another fruitless cameo appearance for Newcastle United as they dropped into the Championship.

And yet, for all the shockwaves this move will cause, Owen will not turn turn up at Old Trafford believing Ferguson has done him a good turn. He will feel he can benefit Manchester United just as much as they can benefit him.

He has an iron shield of self-belief and has never lost the conviction that his rightful place is at a top four club with aspirations of winning the Premier League and the Champions League.
If anyone doubts that, then they do not know Michael Owen. Single-minded barely does him justice and those who speculated that he had lost his love of football were equally wrong-headed.
This is what made him extraordinary at 16 and will fuel him when he walks into Old Trafford.
He is unlikely to worry about his status with Liverpool's fans if he puts pen to paper with rivals United, even though a return to Anfield has probably always been his preferred option, especially when he left Real Madrid.

Owen still has influential supporters inside Liverpool's dressing room who would like to see him back at Anfield, but manager Rafael Benitez has remained unmoved on Owen.
It is a view shaped when he left for Spain at the start of his reign in 2004 and refused to hold out for a move back to Anfield when Newcastle came calling 12 months later - a decision rightly based on the player's fears of missing the next summer's World Cup.

Owen will see United as the perfect platform for one last stab at persuaduing Fabio Capello that he is worthy of consideration for England's World Cup campaign in South Africa next summer.
And he could hardly have asked for a better stage to demonstrate that he should still play a part with England, especially with Wayne Rooney in tandem at club level. Try as you might, it is impossible to detect a downside in this deal for Owen.

United's reasoning will come under closer scrutiny - but Ferguson's move is based on both need and logic as well as his own gut feeling.

Manchester United supporters expecting the arrival of world superstars may need convincing that Owen is the direction they should be heading in. Owen will split opinion, but goals shape verdicts and if he hits the mark early all previous allegiances and injuries will be forgotten.
Ferguson has watched United's potency decreased by the departure of Ronaldo and, to a much lesser extent, Carlos Tevez. Owen may have lost the searing pace of his youth, but his goalscoring record when fit still stands up to serious examination.

And as someone who watched United regularly last season, if there was one element missing from the squad that deservedly claimed a third successive Premier League title, it was a ruthless, killer instinct. Owen will never lose that and the pragmatist in Ferguson tells him that, even at 29, he can add an extra dimension to United.

If United create chances, which they do with regularity, Owen is still as good as anyone around at converting them if he is playing and this will have been the final reckoning for Ferguson, who will tailor his role and appearances to draw the best out of such an accomplioshed marksman.
Owen's fitness will be the question mark over the deal, but Ferguson's medical team have mastered such things before and it is unlikely he will be thrust into United's side as a regular.
The striker was being mocked for his failure to attract serious interest only days ago. It does not get more serious than Manchester United - so do not bet against Owen having the last laugh.
For Owen, the deal is a huge victory. For United and Ferguson it represents a gamble - but it is a gamble based on some sound footballing logic and one that others might yet regret not taking.