Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day

Well, things move quickly in the world of football, yesterday it was, "Real will wait a year to approach Ronaldo because they're strapped for cash", today it's this:

Real Madrid will bring forward their plans to sign Cristiano Ronaldo this summer after claiming Manchester United's prolific winger can succeed Zinedine Zidane as the new darling of the Bernabeu.

It was thought Real president Ramon Calderon would wait until next year's club elections before attempting to pull off the ultimate vote winner and guarantee a second term in power.

But his sporting director, Predrag Mijatovic, indicated the Spanish giants will try to prise Ronaldo away at the end of this season in a move that would rival the audacious £47million capture of Zidane from Juventus seven years ago.

Mijatovic said: "Real Madrid are one of the most prestigious teams in the world of football and therefore have to sign the best players. Cristiano Ronaldo is emblematic. We want him as the new face of Real Madrid."

Whatever.

A couple of papers pick up on Steve Bruce being the Wigan manager and look at how Sir Alex's "old boys" perform against other top teams. From the Guardian:

How Fergie's friends helped the title cause

Chelsea 0 Blackburn 0 Sept 15

Mark Hughes, the former Manchester United striker, sets up his Blackburn Rovers side to frustrate Chelsea - and five days later Jose Mourinho departs from Stamford Bridge

Liverpool 0 Birmingham 0 Sept 22

In their previous home game Liverpool put six past Derby but Birmingham City, managed by Steve Bruce frustrate Rafael Benítez's side. Bruce played 407 times for Alex Ferguson

Blackburn 0 Liverpool 0 Nov 3

Hughes does another favour for Ferguson, this scoreless draw increasing the pressure on Benítez

Liverpool 1 Wigan 1 Jan 2

Bruce is now Wigan's manager, and this draw, courtesy of Titus Bramble's 80th-minute equaliser, is further evidence that Liverpool can start to contemplate another season without the Premier League title

Arsenal 1 Birmingham 1 Jan 12

Alex McLeish one of Ferguson's players at Aberdeen, has replaced Bruce at Birmingham. Garry O'Connor's second-half equaliser means the former Scotland manager can expect a congratulatory call from his old boss

Birmingham 2 Arsenal 2 Feb 23

McLeish's players do it again, this time with devastating consequences for Arsenal, who lose Eduardo da Silva with a fractured fibula and dislocated ankle. James McFadden scores a late penalty for Blues

Wigan 0 Arsenal 0 March 9

Bruce pulls another one out of the hat for his old club as Arsenal gradually lose their nerve

Chelsea 1 Wigan 1 April 14

Bruce does it again, Emile Heskey's injury-time equaliser all but confirming Ferguson's team as champions once again

United's results against teams managed by ex-Ferguson players:

Roy Keane Sunderland

home 1-0 win, away 4-0 win

Steve Bruce Birmingham

away 1-0 win

Alex McLeish Birmingham

home 1-0 win

Mark Hughes Blackburn

home 2-0 win

From The Mail:

it will not have escaped Fergie's meticulous mind that it is not just his former skipper and centre half who has helped him avoid the strain of a title decided on the last day.

Bottles of celebratory wine should also be sent to Mark Hughes at Blackburn and Alex McLeish at Birmingham.

Blackburn will be chasing a win over United on Saturday but their battling draws against Arsenal (1-1), Chelsea (0-0) and Liverpool (0-0) cost each of Fergie's rivals two points.

While managing Birmingham, Bruce nicked a (0-0) draw at Liverpool, traditionally United's fiercest rivals, while his successor McLeish struck a blow with the controversial 2-2 draw against Arsenal in February that helped derail their title challenge.

McLeish, a protege of Ferguson since their Aberdeen glory days, still speaks regularly to the United boss and took the Birmingham job on his mentor's advice — a decision that did Sir Alex no harm.

But while their title rivals have dropped valuable points to Fergie's Old Boys, United have not dropped a single one.

There's a negative twist put on Fabio Capello's comments on Wayne Rooney's finishing in the papers. The Guardian go with, "Capello calls on Rooney to brush up his finishing"; The Times with "Fabio Capello claims there is room for improvement in Wayne Rooney". The actual comment suggests that Fabio is just stating the obvious:

"There is one thing he has got to improve and will improve. In every game he has a lot of scoring chances and he doesn't take them, or nowhere near as many of them as he should. I am fairly sure he will in the future. ... I'm much more worried about forwards who don't get chances."

And the other comment on Rooney from Capello, on the England captaincy (which unsuprisingly is played down in the papers), ends on a note that is also relevant w/r/t his finishing:

"He is a leader, he is an example on the pitch. Obviously he is very young so we need to give him a bit more time to get more experience and mature a bit."

A few comments from Sir Alex are reported in various papers, for example The Times:

“We're in a good position, but with my experience in life you don't take things for granted,” Ferguson said. “We've still got difficult games. We have to go to Blackburn, Chelsea and Wigan, which are three difficult away games. Because we have difficult games, there is still a lot to play for.”

And to get a little ahead of ourselves, the question in the Mail is where will the trophy be presented:

But should results mean United dispense with Chelsea's challenge at Stamford Bridge, the trophy will not be presented until their following home game against West Ham a Premier League spokesman confirmed.

Premier League policy dictates that the trophy is presented at the winner's first home fixture after the title is confirmed unless no home games remain.

Thus, the worst case scenario for United - other than blowing the title altogether - would be to receive the silverware in their final game away to Wigan should Chelsea manage to extend the race that long.

And The Telegraph report that Chelsea have, what I see as, "a fit of pique":

In what will be seen by rival supporters as a fit of pique, Chelsea have told Sky that no pre-match or post-match interviews will be given to them, even though all clubs are required to give access as part of the £900 million-a-year deal with the league.Stamford Bridge powerbrokers claim they have been given insufficient time to recover after the Wigan game and say the scheduling gives leaders Manchester United an unfair advantage.