“Forever a Babe: Growing Up With Manchester United” is the story of boy growing up in a working class family in post war Manchester surrounded by poverty, hardship and a football club being rebuilt almost from scratch. From his first days as a pupil at St. Augustine’s right up to the horror of the Munich Air Disaster, Tom Clare chronicles the highs and lows of his family life together with Manchester United Football Club in this 368 page paperback published in 2009.

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Let’s call a spade a spade, maybe all footballers are prostitutes! Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp was prepared to reveal that Samir Nasri could have – and wanted to – join Manchester United but instead went to City for the money! The always blunt Redknapp was quoted on Saturdays SportingReview.com as saying that “Nasri could have gone to United. They wanted him and he wanted to go to Old Trafford. But then City came in and offered him more money so he went to them instead. United are still the biggest team in England. City haven’t got the tradition of United, Arsenal or Liverpool.”

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It makes you wonder how major club managers can possibly juggle the commitments of their admittedly large squads. Just look at what Sir Alex Ferguson is up against for the rest of this year following Sundays home clash with Arsenal. It’s enough to give anyone nightmares as key players travel across the world for international duties on no less than three occasions. That’s on top of a heavy domestic and Champion League schedule but Sir Alex is of course not the only one facing this dilemma, many leading Premier League and European club bosses have to somehow wrestle with the same problem. It’s little wonder that so called super squads are no longer a luxury but an absolute must if clubs are to have any hope of winning silverware.

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Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Darren Fletcher is ready to make a return to senior duties and will be considered for Sunday’s squad to face Arsenal. The Scottish midfielder emerged unscathed from Thursday evening’s Reserves victory over Swansea and the manager told his pre match press conference that Fletcher is ready for his first senior outing of the season.

Ferguson also leapt to the defence of the Gunners embattled manager Arsene Wenger “The work he has done in the 15 years he has been at the club is the best in Arsenal’s history” he pointed out “Yes, he has not won a trophy for six years but what does that mean? The quality of his side has not been reduced so it’s a bit unfair” He then slammed the critics by saying “but who understands fairness and unfairness these days? Supporters are far less easy to please than they were 20 years ago”

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Sir Alex Ferguson will be delighted after Manchester United were handed a relatively easy task for the group stages of the Champions League. The Premier League champions were pitted against Portuguese side Benfica, Swiss outfit Basel and Romanian newcomers Otelul Galati. Club chief executive David Gill believes that “Sir Alex will be happy with that. We’ve had great success in the last few years in the competition and we’re looking forward to it”  Gill said after the draw in Monaco.

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The boys are back in town – or should that be the men? One of the expected title challengers were made to look like boys as Manchester United swept Tottenham Hotspur aside in a comfortable 3-0 victory at what has become an impregnable Old Trafford fortress. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson was full of praise for his side afterwards saying “That performance was absolutely fantastic. It was very even in the first half  but in the second we just took off. I’m pleased with the young side – it showed we still believe in young players and also, you can see the ability they’ve got. Danny Welbeck is a rangey, long legged boy, he gallops really quickly and has a great attitude.”

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