Still Following the Trawler

West Ham vs Manchester United. FA Cup Upton Park. Saturday 5th January. 17:15 KO TEAM NEWS United: Phil Jones and Vidic will feature, following successful recovery from injury spells. Jones has made only four starts this season, however has made three of them in December as he looks to finally shake the hamstring injury that has prevented his chances so far in 2012/13. Vidic is also making a gradual return from his  injury (also hamstring) Wayne Rooney (knee) has been ruled out of today's game while Nani (hamstring) is still missing despite returning to training. West Ham: Kevin Nolan (c) and James Collins will return back to the side following suspensions. Defender Joey O'Brien (hamstring) is a doubt and striker Andy Carroll (knee) and midfielder Mohamed Diame (hamstring) are still unavailable. MATCH FACTS United have won 57, drawn 24 and lost 42 of their 123 competitive matches against West Ham. We have won eight of the last nine, including the 1-0 win at OT in November...

By Mail Online , Graeme Yorke Anders Lindegaard believes Manchester United's impressive festive form is down to team spirit - unlike their neighbours across the city. The Premier League leaders took 10 points from a possible 12 over Christmas and New Year to open up a seven-point gap between themselves and Manchester City. And while Mario Balotelli was involved in a training ground bust-up with his manager Roberto Mancini, Lindegaard and his United team-mates were reaping the rewards of a positive atmosphere. "The team spirit is as high as I can remember since I came here [in December 2010]," he told MUTV. "We have done tremendously well over the Christmas period and picked up some great results, only dropping points against Swansea - which was a game that we should have won in my opinion." Read the rest of the story here .

Remember this guy? Remember how much we used to fancy him - last summer, and the summer before...and the summer before? Remember how much he and United used to flirt and frolic at the dreamy notion of him playing at Old Trafford? An almost Shakespearean tale of one man's shared love for a team that somehow never seemed to come into fruition. So strong was this 'one day my sweet' status of this love affair, he somehow always felt like our player. Well, now no one cares. Inter Milan - nine points away from top spot - don't want him and he's conveniently decided that he'd NOW like to move to the Premier League, please. Yet while we opted to buy his international team-mate last summer instead of meeting Inter's absurd demands - which, I think, worked out ok..? - poor old Wesley has been reduced to bit-part player, largely due to a (unsurprising) contract battle with his club. A United legend is what he could've been, the one to finally fill the Ronaldo void,...

United beat Galatasaray last Tuesday in the Champions League – a fairly customary 1-0 that went rather unnoticed, with the limelight being shone firmly on a couple of the other Premier League representatives who were both taught a nasty lesson on what not to do when you’re winning. But the biggest victory in Manchester that night was in the return to the squad of one Darren Fletcher. As you are all no doubt aware, Fletcher had been sidelined since November 22nd because of a bowel condition that threatened his career.   His condition was such that Sir Alex had feared that was the end of the road for Fletch: Ferguson’s last remaining member of 'Fledgling Mark II' – the same school that included O’Shea, Richardson and…Danny Pugh. However, with about 11 minutes remaining on the clock, Fletcher replaced Paul Scholes and the stadium erupted: “ The supporters recognize what a tough time he has had for the last year," Ferguson continued, "They gave him a marvellous reception...

...to play in a charity match against Real Madrid next year! Read the full story here - BBC: ' Usain Bolt may play for Manchester United in charity game'

'Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity' Khalil Gibran Cristiano Ronaldo dreamed of one thing as a child – to play for Real Madrid. Via United, he trusted in his dream, and developed into one of the finest footballers the world has ever seen. Real, you could say, was his ‘gate to eternity’. But what happens when you wake up from the dream...? After celebrating a casual brace against Granada on Sunday evening – his 113th and 114th league goals in 104 games for Real – in a rather more-subdued-than-usual fashion, he was asked after the game why the glum reaction. His response was somewhat intriguing... "I am sad and the club knows it, that's why I didn't celebrate the goals. The people in the club know why." Has Ronaldo grown tired of Madrid? Is ‘living the dream’ not all it’s cracked up to be? And most importantly: has the grass actually always been greener in Manchester, he’s only just begun realising it? Well, it’s worth dreaming about, is...

What's this? A rampant, minted United bidding for yet ANOTHER player?? And more to the point, apparently nicking him from right under Liverpool’s nose ! Tremendous. Not that I have a clue about the boy Herrara – other than he was part of Mexico's Olympic 2012 winning side. So here are a few key-pointers about our potential new-boy... Hector Miguel Herrara is a 22 year-old midfielder currently playing for Pachuca, in Mexico's top tier In 2011 he made 14 appearances for Pachuca, winning the Golden Ball as the rookie of the Apertura tournament He scored for Mexico in their 4-2 win over Senegal in the Olympics Quarter Final match earlier this month – en route to beating favourites Brazil in the final He has already made 20 appearances for his country He is nicknamed 'Zorro'