Let’s quickly get the roundup out of the way before we move on to the preview of the Birmingham game.

1. First up, good news as, Ryan Giggs and Brown are to be offered extensions to their contracts. While I’d have anyway expected Giggsy to be offered and extension – really, can you expect him to turn up for any other club? – I am really happy for Wes Brown. He’s responded tremendously well at right back and is making a good name for himself there. While his forward runs may not be as marauding as Neville, he is equally – if not more – solid defensively and has been an important component of our water tight defence this season. He is a fan’s player, and it’s great to see him continue with United.
2. After the Chelsea fiasco, familiar times seems to be returning as our head to head rivalry resumes with Arsenal. Fergie made it clear when he stated that Wenger’s kids are their major title threat now, while refusing to write of Chelsea at the same time. Although, he didn’t even bother mentioning Liverpool – who shouldn’t trouble us as long as Rafa rotates them out of the title race. Two articles on this – one by Guardian’s (and now, our ‘favourite’) Dan Taylor and the other in the Times.
3. Meanwhile, ex-Reds, Mark Hughes and Roy Keane take their sides out against each other. It will be an interesting contest. The media paint it a the battle of the future Man Utd managers, but I wouldn’t read too much into that. There is still time before we get to saying goodbye to SAF.
4. And finally, while this doesn’t have much to with Manchester United Football Club, as we are well beyond repair on this count, it is for the good of football in general. I first saw it on Arseblog – yes, I do read the site from time to time – but for most of you, who might have read the papers recently, you might have come across the attempted hostile takeover by Alisher Usmanov and the action his lawyers are taking against blogs/websites. Well, for people who love football and are UK citizens, go ahead and sign this petition that requests the government to impose stricter fit and proper person test for football club ownership. It’s not a case of which club you support. But more of setting a dangerous precedent regarding ownership (when that happens).

And that’s about it for the day, as far as round-ups go. More round ups later. Now, on to the Birmingham game preview!

Related items from Red Rants:

• Club Takeovers and Self Righteous Fans
• Arsenal v Man Utd: Preview
• Man Utd v Villarreal: Preview
• Free tickets for United v Villa final
• Wayne Rooney to Score, Manchester United to win

Tags: Manchester United News