Television Rules The Nation

photo from here

With the amount of tabs I have open it would seem like we have a lot to get through today, not only Champions League previews but Sir Alex giving an interview gets a bit of attention.

The comments that are getting the most attention are on TV and football, here's what he has to say:

"When you shake hands with the devil you have to pay the price. Television is God at the moment," said Ferguson, who agreed that broadcasters had "too much power". "It shows itself quite clearly because when you see the fixture lists come out now, they can pick and choose whenever they want the top teams on television," he added.

"You get some ridiculous situations when you're playing on Wednesday night in Europe and then at lunchtime the following Saturday. You ask any manager if they would pick that themselves and there'd be absolutely no chance."

They are comments which I think should be taken with a pinch of salt.  I didn't catch the interview, so haven't seen the proper context, but it seemed like a more informal, more "lifestyle" interview, than a football interview, thus I like to imagine Sir Alex more in miserable old man mode, complaining about football - like being back at home and listening to my parents bang on about how footballers don't deserve all that money for just kicking a ball about.  And it's not so much TV he's complaining about, because The Champions League is surely the competition that has been created to the model that TV demands:  the group stage to create more games; games spread over two nights; a country's teams spread and kept apart to make it easier for the home audience;  the Europa league played on Thursday to try and maximise interest; everything weighted towards the countries with larger TV revenue.  It's not the "devil of television," but specifics of TV in the country, as he points out here, in other countries the home leagues change fixtures to give clubs more of a chance in Europe:

When we played Benfica, they changed their (domestic) fixture immediately they knew it was United they were playing. The importance of doing well in Europe is greater there than it is in our country."

It's Sky he's got a problem with, not the money that TV brings, or the money/TV created Champions League, just Sky's schedulers.

The Mail has quotes from the rest of the interview, in which Sir Alex talks about, among other things, the famous "hairdryer" and quotes from David Beckham about people living in fear of him:

'I hope not,' replied Ferguson. 'There's a lot of myth attached to that. In training there's nothing but praise for every player. Nothing but positives. 'Where David and other people are coming from is how I react to defeat, which is not easy for me. I don't think I should change. I don't like people who change. I think you should stick by your nature. But after it's over it's over. I never go back. Tomorrow is another day for me. 'The hairdryer is part of the myth and the circus. It's completely exaggerated, like throwing the tea cups. 

'But I'm a confrontational character and I don't like people arguing back to me. I think that's where the hairdryer treatment came from.'

Onto The Champions League and in the same interview he says how being "unsackable" means he can plan, and how he worked after the Barcelona defeat in Rome to rebuild:

"There was an issue on how we could get near to Barcelona after the final in Rome two years ago," he said. "When you build a team, you want one that lasts five or six years so you get a consistent nature about them and they become friends together. I have a nucleus of young players around the 20-21 year mark who can be regarded in the same way as the Giggs-Scholes-Neville-Beckham era.

"I like to see my own character in the players. I like obsessive, driven footballers that do not like losing. The length of time I have been here has meant that it's been instilled. It becomes a normal situation when players come in and say they had better be like the rest or they won't be at the club too long. It is driven by me but there is an acceptance by the players that they will have to have these qualities to be successful."

To tonight's game and Berbatov is tipped to start, with Rooney and Hernandez injured, Sir Alex again making the point about it being a squad game:

The 30-year-old has started United's last two matches, the draw at the Britannia Stadium and the Carling Cup win at Leeds United, and perhaps that explained Ferguson's irritation when pressed on Berbatov's contribution to the Champions League campaign. "Of course he's got a part to play. He's one of our squad members and they've all got a part to play," the United manager said. "There are a lot of games in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carling Cup. It's an exhausting season unless you use your squad."Ferguson utilised his resources in the opening group game at Benfica but left Berbatov on the bench throughout the 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light. He dismissed claims that his handling of United's record signing may now include restoring the confidence of a forward who has not scored in the Champions League since a brace against Celtic in October 2008.

"I don't have to reassure him," he added. "He knows his place in the squad, and that applies to many players like Mame Diouf, Macheda and Michael Owen, they're not playing regularly either. We've had six league games and the ones against Benfica and Leeds. It's only early doors. There's plenty of time."

He also had praise for Ashley Young at the press conference:

 "Ashley has brought a great awareness of the game and fantastic endurance from box to box, which is something we've enjoyed from Ryan Giggs for many years. He has integrated very well and there is a good application in his training. He's done very, very well."

There's some quotes from Ashley Young doing the rounds today, read them here, nothing really worth quoting, just the usual, "it's a big club, want to do well, tough game but we should win" stuff.

Back to Berba, and in The Mirror, David McConnell makes up some stuff about Berba being "desperate" to play, and how it's "make or break" for him, and then says Sir Alex was "prickly" at his press conference - must be the idiots he has to put up with...

The Mail look at how Basle's manager played for Bayern in 1999:

Former Bayern Munich midfielder Thorsten Fink will have no thoughts of revenge when his Basle side face Manchester United in the Champions League. The German came on as an 80th-minute Bayern substitute in the 1999 final with his team winning 1-0, only for United to strike back with two late goals to snatch their second European Cup triumph.'It is not a question of getting equal,' said Fink, who is in his third season as Basle coach. 'I am glad to be here as a coach, it is not an everyday experience. 

'Going back (to 1999) it was a great memory, even in defeat. I think you always gain strength from defeat because everything that hurts helps you improve.

A few other little stories: Man City are laying a wreath in Munich, a move which Sir Alex praises.

Quatari buyout rumours are rubbish.

Finally, The Sun have all the good stories - Berba's mam in "kidnap hell...":

The Manchester United forward's terrified mum Margarita received an email warning she would be abducted unless a large cash sum was handed over.

Anti-Mafia cops arrested suspect Petar Antonov, 38, at his home in the Bulgarian city of Blagoevgrad, where Berbatov grew up and nurse Margarita, 51, still lives.