What the blazes is a Manchester United???

Likely yes, guaranteed no!! Unless Southampton sign up Messrs Butt, Asif and Amir. Then I should be happy to risk more than the usual tenner!

The clever money would be on Man United obviously, providing they don`t play in grey shirts that is !

Is Nicky still playing?

Probably an occasional round of golf!

If the stories about the splendid life style British prisoners are supposed to enjoy these days are true, he might just meet his namesake on the course.

Perhaps with the prison governor and chief warder taking turns to caddy for him? You mustn't believe everything you hear. Lots of Daily Mail readers out there that would like to return to the "good old days" when they ate dried bread, slopped out and broke rocks all day! Wouldn't think they'll have much fun. Shame the News of the World's despicable owners aren't in prison instead! If it had been up to me I would have given them community service and not prison! I don't know what the benefits of sending them to prison are unless it's improving the local prisons cricket team! They cheated! What they did was awful but it was entrapment! Good old News of the World! Not at all missed!

I have to say that the news section of the Wellred Weekly looks in danger of filling the void left by the NOTW for salacious, not to mention sensationalist, reporting. Personally, I take no responsibility for it, I merely play the role of providing a virtual printing press, leaving the Editrix in Chief responsible for decision making in regards to content.

Ha! Aigburth is hardly a slum.

And my heart is still warmed as I recall that wonderful City-United game a few weeks ago. What was it? 6-1?

YNWA

Yes it was 6-1 but if you're interested in previous results in the Premier League then I find this to be a much more interesting 'result':

Manchester Utd: 12
Arsenal: 3
Chelsea: 3
Blackburn: 1
Liverpool: 0

YNWTP

Februs: just to clarify: I'm not supporting people hating any football team, though that is the language many fans use. Undoubtedly a lot of people like to see the current most powerful team lose, especially if it's dominated to the extent first Liverpool and then Manchester United have (or Arsenal back in the Herbert Chapman days). I was referring to the sad but real phenomenon which often unites people in what they're opposed to. It seems to me that many nations are defined by not being someone else. The French satirical writer Anatole France proposed a sociological law that the nearer people are to you, the more you hate them, which is obviously not literally true but has an uncomfortable grain of truth. I've got very seriousd here, but I was originally trying to be light.

The neighbour principle plus the in-Britain-power-makes-people-throw-things-at-you principle account for this. Ages ago, I was attending a football match in London during a hard winter. A couple of coachloads of Notts County supporters had arrived in London for their away game only to find it had been called off, so they diverted to another game, the one I was at. An enterprising tradesman who'd evidently got the news of this was doing a roaring trade in I Hate Nottingham Forest badges.

Blimp: being not at all nationalistic about football, only very slightly, and having the English love of the underdog, the answer to your question is: I'd support Man U against Bayern Munich, but Werder Bremen against Man U - or Chelsea, as a good QPR fan, though I hesitate over the Champions' League as I think Chelsea have been twice robbed there. But if they were up against some obscure Finnish or Montenegrin side...