The Movement Is Moving

Sir Alex comments on the young-players-transfer-controversy yesterday:

"We are good at it and, obviously, it rankles with a lot of people," the United manager said.

The president of Le Havre, Jean-Pierre Louvel, accused United this week of offering a house and £170,000 to the parents of a 16-year-old player, Paul Pogba, to persuade him to move to England. United have threatened Louvel with legal action and Ferguson said: "This was an accusation aimed at us by some frustrated director, and he is now going to have to retract it."

"They [other clubs] are always going to bring Manchester United into it because we are the biggest club, but they do it without any foundation, or knowledge about the situation whatsoever," Ferguson said. "There are a lot of people jumping on the bandwagon, but I can assure you that Manchester United behave absolutely correctly in all their dealings with young players and their parents.

"There has never ever been a case of us paying parents. It would be crazy to contemplate that because it would be the biggest headache you could ever have. We behave impeccably – what other clubs do is obviously subject to a lot of controversy and speculation, but I'm confident about our own club."

And some sensible comments on other issues involved:

Ferguson said: "The EU allows players to move. That's a fact. You can't stop a boy, once he has left school, moving from his country. So, that's not an issue. We are well within the regulations."

A lot of the problems, according to Ferguson, originate from the Football Association's 90-minute rule, which limits the choice of young English players depending on where they live.

"There is a weakness in the academy system as far as Manchester United are concerned. We can't scout a boy on the south coast of England, or the north-east, or anywhere in the east of England. Yet we can bring in a boy from Brazil. It seems ludicrous. We have said from the day the system started there is no doubt there is a weakness in that respect.

"We would never have got David Beckham under the present situation and you have to ask what would a boy's best chance be of getting to the top. Would it be at Torquay, or somewhere like that, or at big clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, all the big clubs, historically?"

There's a bit more praise for Rooney after the England game on Wednesday. Richard Williams on The Guardian blog, he spends a bit too long going on about his temperament "problems," which I'll pass by, but praises his general play as well:

Again and again his technical finesse and acute perception were allowed to express themselves, even when scoring neatly from an absurdly sliced clearance by Vedran Runje, the otherwise blameless Croatia goalkeeper. Perhaps the most impressive moment came after 35 minutes when Aaron Lennon began a diagonal run along the inside-right channel only to meet Rooney coming across him on a line that made it look as though they might be about to get in each other's way. Instead Rooney took the ball from Lennon's feet but then, in a single movement, fed it back into the winger's continuing path, throwing the defence off balance and opening the way for the Tottenham man to bring an excellent save from Runje.

Some comments from Rooney on scoring for England and breaking the record for most goals in a qualifying campaign:

"I didn't know about that record at first but now it's something I'm proud of.

"I hope I can get to double figures. There are two games left so you never know.

"I'm sure the manager will try different things but, hopefully, I can get a few more goals." ...

He joked: "Most times I wear an England shirt I feel I can score... but not on Saturday! Thankfully, I scored a bit of a lucky goal against Croatia."

Sir Alex on Owen Hargreaves inclusion in the Champions League squad:

"We had difficulty what we should do about Owen Hargreaves whether to put him in the 25," said the United manager.

"It was Owen or Zoran or Ritchie de Laet. It was a dilemma. But we came down on the side of Hargreaves because having taken the medical advice we think he will be available for the last three Champions League games.

"In that respect it is the time when we would want to push him a bit. He is also a versatile player who can perform in so many positions.

"He could be a very important player for us at that time of the season.

"It is disappointing for Zoran but there is nothing we can do about it. There have been others left out."

Brian McClair on how we're not missing Ronaldo:

"As far as everybody at Old Trafford is concerned the start of the season is going well. The team was always going to come under more scrutiny than usual after the departure of Ronaldo and what some saw as unspectacular activity in the transfer window.

"United have always hung in there around the top of the table until Christmas and then pushed on.

"To listen to some people you would think we are in some kind of post-Ronaldo crisis. All I will say is look at history and look at Sir Alex Ferguson's record."

Finally, Bryan Robson is linked to the Thailand job:

'We're still in negotiation, but he is interested and we are interested,' said Thai Football Association president Worawi Makudi.