It has to be as sure a bet as you’re ever likely to get, not quite impossible to lose but as near a certainty as can be. Managing the same club for 700 consecutive Premier League matches is a record that nobody will ever take from Sir Alex Ferguson. That milestone was reached at Goodison Park on Saturday but overall, the Scotsman has been in charge of Manchester United on 1336 occasions. It’s an incredible record built over 24 years at the club and nobody has any doubt that a quarter of a century will be clocked up in November next year to take him a shade past Sir Matt Busby. As Sir Alex celebrated his unique achievement, Sportsmail writers recall the moments of football genius and volcanic temper that put Fergie in a league of his own.

Read the full story

Former Manchester United defender Kevin Moran will be watching Saturdays clash at Goodison Park with special interest – and not because it will be Wayne Rooney’s first appearance for United since his ‘troubles’ erupted. Moran had his own troubles a quarter of a century ago when he set an unwanted record by going  into the history books as  the first player to be sent off in an FA Cup Final during Manchester United’s 1-0 extra time defeat of Everton in 1985.

Read the full story

If the name John Carey is mentioned to most Manchester United fans today, the response is likely to be a blank stare together with a puzzled question of John who? Yet Carey was the man Sir Matt Busby put his faith in to lead the first of his many teams after taking over the reins at a bombed out Old Trafford when World War 2 came to an end. The Irishman went on to captain the side at Wembley in the 4-2 defeat of Blackpool in the 1948 FA Cup Final and was four times runners up in the old First Division between 1946/47 and 1950/51 before United finally clinched the title in 1951/52.
Read the full story

If the name John Carey is mentioned to most Manchester United fans today, the response is likely to be a blank stare together with a puzzled question of John who? Yet Carey was the man Sir Matt Busby put his faith in to lead the first of his many teams after taking over the reins at a bombed out Old Trafford when World War 2 came to an end. The Irishman went on to captain the side at Wembley in the 4-2 defeat of Blackpool in the 1948 FA Cup Final and was four times runners up in the old First Division between 1946/47 and 1950/51 before United finally clinched the title in 1951/52.
Read the full story

The large number of players linked to Manchester United in the last few weeks has been extraordinary. A hardened cynic, like this one, could not be blamed for thinking that the vast majority of them never had a hope in hell of ever going through yet there is something about the proposed move of Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid that seems to be a little different. A gut feeling if you like, that this time, the transfer could prove to be the real thing.

Read the full story

If anybody wants the best possible clue that Everton manager David Moyes is the most likely man to take over at Manchester United when Sir Alex Ferguson finally decides to call it a day, a huge one was given by Moyes himself this week when he simply laughed off reports that he is set to take over the job after the 2010-2011 season.

Read the full story