| Manchester United v Wigan - live! Click the button below for automatic updates. And if that's not exciting enough for you, email tom.lutz@guardian.co.uk with your thoughts for the dayTom will be here from 7.30pm. In the meantime you can peruse Daniel Taylor's blog on how Sir Alex Ferguson came football's new tinkerman.When Sir Alex Ferguson was asked recently about the team he was planning to play in the next match he leant back in his chair and announced to the assembled journalists that if anyone predicted his side accurately he would pay for them to have a weekend in Loch Lomond before adding, Fergie being Fergie, that he would make sure "the midges were out". The prize, as you can imagine, went unclaimed. It has become football's equivalent of nailing a jelly to the wall and tomorrow, when Wigan Athletic visit Old Trafford, we can expect it to be the 99th consecutive game in which the Manchester United manager has not kept the same side.Another manager would have been rumbled by now but Ferguson has managed to put together one of the more remarkable runs of modern-day football almost under the radar and without any of the scrutiny that plagued Rafael BenÃtez when he did the same thing three years ago or, before that, the misgivings that surrounded Claudio Ranieri's judgment during his time at Chelsea.The critique of Ranieri's methods often bordered on derision and when BenÃtez finally sent out an unchanged team it was tempting to conclude that the decision owed partly to him trying to appease a hostile media. Ferguson, in stark contrast, is not facing any calls to abandon the habit and revert to something more orthodox and on Sunday, when Leeds United are the opponents in the FA Cup, we can safely assume the run will reach 100 and counting. As the man himself says: "The days when Liverpool won the league only using 14 players are no longer possible – nobody even thinks about that now."It has become a demonstration in how the oldest manager in the business has not only moved with the times but managed to stay in front of his contemporaries. Ferguson learned from the Champions League in 1993-94 that the same players could not be used in all competitions and it was from that point onwards that he started introducing the younger members of his squad in the League Cup and some European matches, gathering momentum to a point now when he has not named the same starting XI since the final weeks of the 2007-08 season.To read the rest of the article, click here.Premier LeagueManchester UnitedWigan AthleticTom Lutzguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Notts County tie against Forest Green falls victim to weather • Meadow Lane match postponed due to frozen pitch• Wetherby race meeting called offThe cold snap is continuing to hit football fixtures across the country, with Notts County's FA Cup third-round tie against Forest Green Rovers an early victim on today's programme.An inspection this morning found a frozen pitch at Meadow Lane.Three FA Cup ties were among a raft of matches postponed yesterday.In the Scottish Premier League, the Edinburgh derby between Hibernian and Hearts was given the go-ahead following an early-morning inspection at Easter Road.Meanwhile, Wetherby's National Hunt meeting scheduled for tomorrow has been abandoned due to a frozen track following an inspection this morning.FA CupNotts CountyHibernianHeartsHorse racingguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
BenÃtez apologises to Liverpool supporters and vows to fight on • 'Everyone here feels sorry for the fans,' says BenÃtez• Manager eager to bring in more players this monthRafael BenÃtez has vowed to fight on as Liverpool manager despite the club's season hitting a new low this week. BenÃtez apologised to the team's supporters today, saying the team was in a "bad moment" following their FA Cup defeat to Championship side Reading on Wednesday, but insisting that he was not worried about his own position."We are not playing well and everyone here feels sorry for our fans," said BenÃtez, whose team have already dropped out of the Champions League at the group stage and appear to be out of the Premier League title race. "This is a bad moment, we are not doing well during the season and we know have to improve and we have the belief we can do it."How can we improve? Winning on the pitch. How can we be sure we win on the pitch? By training well. If I am worried about my position or the future of the club at this moment I will lose my focus."Stoke is the most important game now and we have to prepare properly. I cannot be worried about the other things. My future is Stoke now."BenÃtez last season signed a new long-term deal worth between £3m and £4m a year."It is true I like to do my best every time. If I decided to stay here and signed a five-year contract it is because I wanted to fight," he added. "Things are not going well, we know, but if I waste my time talking about all these things (speculation about his future) all the time I will lose my focus and it will be worse and worse."I don't need any assurances of anything. I promise you I am preparing for the next game and, in football, things can change the next week."BenÃtez is eager to strengthen his Liverpool squad further this month to help them overcome an injury crisis. After signing the Argentina winger Maxi RodrÃguez on Wednesday, Liverpool lost Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Yossi Benayoun to injuries in their defeat to Reading.Torres requires surgery on his right knee that will sideline him for six weeks, while Gerrard and Benayoun are expected to be out for two and four weeks respectively. BenÃtez has been given limited funds for signings but has been told he can spend the proceeds if he sells Ryan Babel.The Dutch forward is one of few options for Liverpool in attack with Torres injured and Andriy Voronin having left for Dynamo Moscow, but appears to be on his way out of the club after revealing on his Twitter page that he has been left out of the Liverpool squad for their game against Stoke tomorrow.BenÃtez opened his press conference today by reading from a statement of "facts", a lighthearted reference to a tirade he launched against United manager Alex Ferguson almost exactly a year ago, which began in similar fashion."We are not playing well and we feel sorry for our fans," Benitez said as he read from a piece of paper. "We know every week things can change in football and we have confidence we can improve."We are still working hard to find good players," BenÃtez said today. "In this market it is very difficult but we have to keep looking to see if we can find someone."BenÃtez needs reinforcements to lift Liverpool up from seventh in the Premier League to the top four. There is a growing sense that he needs to qualify for the Champions League to keep his job at the end of the season, though BenÃtez would not directly answer questions about his future today."We want to concentrate and it's better we talk about football," BenÃtez said ahead of Saturday's match at Stoke. "We must not talk too much about the other things."Rafael BenÃtezLiverpoolPremier LeagueTransfer windowguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
FIFA panel to examine Henry handball France captain Thierry Henry's infamous handball in the World Cup playoff win over Ireland will go under the microscope when FIFA's disciplinary commission assesses the incident. foxsports.com.au |
Hull accuse Paul Duffen over agent fees Hull accuse former chairman Paul Duffen of taking payments from agents in exchange for favouring them in transfer dealings. telegraph.co.uk |