Bitten From The Thigh Of Zeus

News from Sir Alex's pre-Southampton press conference summed up pretty well in The Guardian.  On Rooney Sir Alex certainly sounded like he wanted rid, wait, no, he didn't:

"The injury is maybe a blessing because he can concentrate on his fitness now in the gymnasium in particular. He should be available for selection [after four weeks] because he will be able to train. He'll do gym work, he was in the gym yesterday and he will be able to continue that. The minute he can start running that will help. It's a bad gash but he was treated really quickly and we don't expect any complications."

Rooney being only a substitute against Fulham led to speculation of a rift with his manager but Ferguson said: "He said himself he needs a few games and I wanted to play Van Persie at the start at Old Trafford. I knew he wasn't 100% fit either. I couldn't really start the two of them.

"It wasn't an easy choice, simply because you're leaving out a really good player and you're leaving out a player who can get you goals. His scoring performance over the last few years has improved each year. It's getting better every year."

Mark Ogden in The Telegraph says that Rooney might only be out for the 4 weeks that Sir Alex suggested in the first place:

Although the initial prognosis on Rooney’s injury – a badly gashed thigh sustained against Fulham last Saturday – suggested the 26 year-old could be sidelined for two months, the player could yet be available again within four weeks after scans ruled out serious muscle damage.

I'm pretty certain that should read: "Although doom-mongering journalists initially laid out the worst-case scenario as gospel..."

The Daily Star lead on his "rant" at the FA for revealing Ashley Young was injured:

“It was nice of the FA to let everyone know that Ashley Young is injured.

“There is no point giving them any information now.

“He’s out, he got a knee injury last week, although it’s not serious. Obviously he will be ready for a couple of weeks’ time.

“We have a game on Sunday. Why should they alert our opponents who’s fit, who’s not fit? It won’t happen again.”

The Independent has Sir Alex on Berba and what went wrong:

"He is a very, very talented player," said Ferguson of Berbatov. "His contribution in the home games was his strongest point. He is the only player to have scored a hat-trick for us against Liverpool.

"But there came a time when we changed our game and that didn't suit him because we started playing with more speed.

"Teams were getting in quickly to organise against us so therefore we had to change the way we wanted to play and that didn't suit Dimitar at all."

The Sun report that tomorrow will be Sir Alex's 1000th league game:

Of those league games Ferguson has won 598, drawn 233 and lost 168 — resulting in 12 titles.

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini is a mere 900 games behind — he notches up 100 in charge at the Etihad today.

Only three other managers have reached Fergie’s landmark but you have to go back 80 years and more to find them.

Ferguson will have to be in charge for another nine seasons if he wants to eclipse record holder George Ramsey who was in charge for 1,327 league games as manager of Aston Villa between 1884-1926.