Adam's Fieldtrip To Hell

Champions League draw yesterday and our group couldn't have worked out much better.  Here's Daniel Taylor summing up in The Guardian:

Manchester United are in no position to be complacent, bearing in mind their exit from another easy-looking group last year but, all the same, Sir Alex Ferguson should not be unduly concerned about facing Braga, Galatasaray and CFR Cluj. Admittedly, the same was said this time a year ago about Benfica, Basel and Otelul Galati but the hasty exit that followed was only the third time in 17 years that United have not qualified, and it is an obliging draw, even if it does involve long trips to Turkey and Romania and a renewal of acquaintances with Galatasaray – "Welcome to Hell" and all that.

Here's Sir Alex's response to the draw, from The Sun:

Ferguson insisted: “That [failing to qualify from the group stage] won’t happen again. We’ll qualify from the group stage. I’ll make sure of it.

“We need to show last season was just a blip.

“We have the experience of playing against Galatasaray in the past and will always remember the ‘Welcome to Hell’ banners. It’s always a difficult type of match.

“Braga are one of the improving teams in Portugal and we’ve never played Cluj before.

“But after the experience of last year, we don’t want to make any stupid errors this time.

“We will play our strongest team to make sure we get through.”

The Mirror, for once being useful and informative have the full list of game dates here.

David Gill had some comments about Rooney, reported like this in The Sun:

Chief executive David Gill moved to rule out any prospect of the England superstar being allowed to leave Old Trafford.

Rooney, 26, will be sidelined for two months after suffering an horrendously gashed leg during Saturday’s win against Fulham.

And Gill insists the striker will still be a United player when he returns to action.

He said: “Wayne is definitely not for sale and I can categorically say there has been no discussion within the club or with his agent.

“He is in a long-term contract with us and is very integral to our team.

“Wayne’s a great player who has got a bad injury — but he will come back.

“He didn’t start on Saturday for various reasons. Alex Ferguson picks the best team to win the game and that’s it."

Which makes it sound like David Gill came out and made a statement to stop the rumours, giving it credence even while denying it.  Here's what The Mail says (and it comes to something when you're going to The Mail for the truth):

David Gill was here in Monaco and the United chief executive was asked to respond to reports that Wayne Rooney’s future at the club was now in doubt. ‘He’s definitely not for sale,’ he said.

Yes, he replied to a question, he didn't actively "move to rule out."

Berba seems to have finally gone [a moment's silence], to Fulham, here's Martin Jol:

"For good players you have to pay good money. There were a lot of clubs interested in Dimitar but we were able and capable of getting him. He is finishing his medical and, if everything is good, he will be one of our players."

And again:

“I’m very happy and I think our fans will be very happy because it’s probably the biggest signing in the history of Fulham.

“Dimitar’s got a very good record. If you look at his record internationally and with Man United, I don’t think there is another striker – maybe Van Persie in five years’ time – who could achieve that.”

And on his time with him at Spurs:

‘In my final period at Spurs, I said, “He will go over my dead body”,’ recalled Jol. ‘We had a good relationship and he knows that he will enjoy his football here. Hopefully, he can score his goals and we have other good players around him.’

The Manchester Evening News are pretty disrespectful to the great man, their piece on him going is unnecessarily negative, I won't bother quoting.

One last story, and it's speculation that Darren Fletcher might be available to be named in the Champions League squad.