* In the first instalment of a new weekly Monday column, Tell Me Why, the Independent’s brilliant man in the north-west, Ian Herbert, asks why Manchester United needed to unveil a statue of their remarkable manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, even before Fergie has left the building. What does it tell us about Sir Alex, and […]

By Nick Harris SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year 25 April 2011 Sir Alex Ferguson has reiterated that Manchester United can compete with the biggest-spending teams in the word, and while he said United are as ‘sensible’ as possible with transfer fees and wages he added: “When we go for a player, we generally […]

* JOHN ROBERTS wrote for the Daily Express, The Guardian, the Daily Mail and The Independent, where he was the tennis correspondent for 20 years. He collaborated with Bill Shankly on the Liverpool manager’s autobiography, ghosted Kevin Keegan’s first book, and has written books on George Best, Manchester United’s Busby Babes (The Team That Wouldn’t Die) and Everton (The Official […]

19 October 2010 Sir Alex Ferguson has given an interview to MUTV about the Wayne Rooney situation and the following transcript is on the ManUtd.com website. Q: After all we’ve heard and read, it would be interesting to hear your point of view. Let’s start with where it all began and the question of was […]

 By Brian Sears  19 August 2016 It was this time a year ago that we wrote that Chelsea’s title hopes were as good as gone after two games – purely from a statistical history point of view. Jose Mourinho’s team (as they were then) had lost both their opening games, and in the piece linked here we […]

By Nick Harris 10 June 2016 Two interesting and credible studies published this week have attempted to quantify the cost (and separately, the value) of the 24 squads that will contest Euro 2016, which begins this evening in Paris when hosts France face Romania at the Stade de France. The first was conducted by Profit […]

By Brian Sears  4 March 2016 For the last 20 completed seasons the Premier League has had 20 teams and been played over 38 rounds. The eventual champions in all 20 of those seasons have been the club with the most points or second-most points from the first 28 games. The table below gives full details by […]

By Sportingintelligence 20 November 2015 Few figures in world football are as widely respected as the late England manager, Bobby Robson, and testament to his enduring popularity is the fact that so many stars of the modern game continue to contribute to fund-raising in his memory. This year’s edition of the Sir Bobby Auction provides […]

By Ian Herbert 15 May 2015 We now know that there are beating hearts inside the silent, implacable Glazers and that there have been ways of winding them up during their 10 years of ownership at Manchester United, a milestone reached this week. Two ways, to be precise. Joel Glazer was infuriated by the national newspaper claim as the family […]

. REVIEW . By John Roberts 28 November 2014 When the flamboyant Ron Atkinson was the manager of Manchester United, he answered a routine check call from a football reporter and told him: “I’m about to sign Ruudi Wakening from Vasta Sleep.” Big Ron was chuckling even before the reporter had time to make a […]