The will he or won’t he sign for United debate is hotting up as teenager Freddy Adu has just four days left of his trial at Man U to convince Mr Ferguson that he can be a star for the Old Trafford faithful. He has been on a two week trial from D.C United to judge whether he makes the grade for playing at the top level of the Premiership.

So far it seems the teenage sensation has impressed the coaching staff but winning over Sir Alex may prove to be a more arduous task. Adu has been tracked by the Manchester Club since he was 14 years old and it seems that this is the time if they are to make a move to capture his signature. Chelsea have also shown an interest in the Ghanaian born midfielder and a move to Old Trafford could be seen as a coup d’etat for United over their title rivals.

Adu is hailed as a footballing superstar in the Major Soccer League but whether he can transfer his skills to the English game is another question. With the big names such as Sheva failing at Chelsea it begs the question whether players can adapt to the style of play of the Premiership. Adu has said “MLS has been great. I’ve enjoyed my time with D.C. United and I’ve really grown as a professional - but to see a huge change in my abilities I need to go to Europe with all the best players”. It seems Freddy wishes to make a move to Europe and if Man United turn the youngster down then other clubs could be happily waiting in the wings to snatch his signature.

Should Man United take a chance and put pen to paper or will Freddy end up as another “what should have been” contender together with the likes of Veron and Rebrov?

We’ve been tipped off by our friends Adam Powley and Martin Cloake that Tottenham Hotspur legend Steve Perryman will be signing copies of their latest book “The Spurs Miscellany” this Thursday (30th November 2006). Full details below:

Spurs legend Steve Perryman will be signing copies of The Spurs Miscellany
at Waterstones Leadenhall Market, 1 Whittington Avenue, Leadenhall Market, London EC3V 1PJ on Thursday 30th November at 12:30pm.

If you can’t make it but would like to reserve a copy please contact Waterstones on 020 7220 7882

If you can get yourselves down there then do go as it’s a great book with the added Spurs bonus of a real living Spurs legend scribbling his name on it for you, what more could any Spurs fan want this Christmas?

I’m sorry but on reading the papers this morning I had to stifle a snigger as Arsene was again blaming Arsenal’s below par performances on everything and I mean everything but the team and himself. His spiel started off well enough stating that Arsenal are on the up and up and aren’t done with the title race yet but soon degenerated into a woe is me tale of bad times. What are the reasons for Arsenal’s title slump? Well lets take a brief peek at what Mr Wenger thinks:

1) Difficulty adapting to the new Emirates Stadium
2) World Cup in the summer
3) International Friendlies in August
etc.
etc.
etc.

The reasons are not original because Arsene has been using them from the start of the season. It seems that the man just needs to admit that his team are presently underachieving and take a long hard look at the team to discover where the problems lie. Over reliance on wonder Star Thierry Henry is bottling up problems for the future in my opinion, its not that the team don’t have a touch of class and decent players it just seems that without their icon on the pitch they look lacklustre and lost. He’s a manager who just won’t put the blame on the shoulders of his players and has asked the fans to judge them at the end of the season and only then citing that he is so happy with his squad that he won’t be adding to it in January.

His backing of the players is fair enough but with a match at Fulham tonight all eyes are on Arsenal to pull off a win and to give the fans a distant flame of hope but with Chelsea and Man United pulling away at the top can Arsenal find that “va va voom” to rescue their season. Its seems that it is time for Arsenal to prove exactly how great a team they are by actions on the pitch and with the match tonight, Tottenham and then Porto next on the bill this could make for an interesting week for the reds.

Well the big game of the weekend, for United and Chelsea fans at least, is over, and we don?t really know much more than we did last week. A 1-1 draw was the result and the status quo has been preserved, as we are still three points clear of Chelsea at the top the league.

The game, hyped up to high heaven by?well?everyone, was not a classic. But we played some great football in the first half and looked much the better side. With Shevchenko still out-of-sorts, Ballack just going through the motions and Lampard anonymous, we looked in control and comfortable, and were in front at the break thanks to Saha?s sublime finish (a question to all those who have been doubting him since the Celtic game ? could van Nistelrooy score a goal like that?).
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What is it about Chelsea these days? They seem to be destroying the talents of numerous footballers year in year out and nobody is talking about it. Firstly we have Shaun Wright-Phillips one of Englands up and coming youngsters who can’t be touched in the Premiership yet when he makes his “dream” move to Chelsea he disappears off all radar. Is it reaching your peak too early or it just that Chelsea as a team tend to push footballers out of all recognition unless they make a big impact in the squad at the beginning. God knows if your a fans favourite like Lampard then you can be assured of a starting place each week.
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This is a story about a man in form. A dragon slayer, beating off injuries with his diamond right boot. This is a great Christian, a believer in all things good. But I’m not talking about St George.

I’m talking about the ass-kicking dynamo that is Christian Roberts.
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Everyone loves a striker. Their goals can trigger raptures of jubilant celebration and are replayed the following Monday over and over. Should they score enough of them then their status at a club may become worthy of worship by the fans so much so that Chairmen are often prepared to pay the highest fees and the highest wages for their services.

That said then, the decision by Forest to sell their top scorer this season in the January transfer window may at first seem a little odd. Downright ludicrous in fact even if I did tell you that we have so many forwards on the books we are prepared to delay the return from injury of one of the better ones to ease the pressure upon squad rotation.
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Whoever said this European football lark was difficult was talking a load of old cobblers. Five games into Tottenham’s 2006 European Tour and with five straight wins we’ve finally found the natural home for our style of play.

Unfortunately our natural home seems to be on the continent rather than the bread and butter of the Premiership but if we keep up the fantastic form we’ve displayed in Europe, both home and away, then there aren’t many of the sides who will join us in the last 32 that we should worry about.
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Three years ago I made a decision that would change my life forever. It is the kind of decision you look back on and think ?Why on earth did I do that??. It seemed a good idea at the time although admittedly, I only did it to be a sheep. I did it because a couple of school friends had done it and I thought if they can I can. Imagine making a decision that often makes you the most unpopular person around. Well, that is exactly what I did when I enrolled on a referee?s course!
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It was always going to be a tough night at Parkhead, and so it proved, as we went down to a sublime free kick from Sunshuke Nakamura that allowed Celtic to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions (sic) League for the first time.

Celtic have a proud record at home in Europe in recent years ? Barcelona, Juventus and Milan have all fallen there ? and last night it was our turn. As the half-time whistle blew it looked like it was only a matter of time before we scored and sealed the win. Celtic had barely gotten on the ball and ? bar a Thomas Gravesen header ? had barely threatened the goal. United?s passing had been slick and the quartet of Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney and Saha had been buzzing menacingly around the Celtic back four.
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